More than 100 killed in attempt to escape DRC’s largest prison

More than 100 people were killed while trying to escape from a prison in the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the early hours of Monday, the security minister has said.

In a post on X on Tuesday morning, Jacquemain Shabani said 129 people had died and 59 others were injured in the escape attempt at Makala prison in Kinshasa. Twenty-four of those who died were killed by gunfire, while the others lost their lives in a crush during the chaos, he said.

He also said a fire broke out and destroyed the prison’s administrative buildings, registry, hospital and food depots.

Shabani said the situation was under control and investigations taking place. A crisis meeting has been called with the heads of defence and security services.

He did not indicate how many inmates had escaped or attempted to do so.

Witnesses told AFP that they had heard gunfire around 2 am on Monday and that it lasted for several hours in the prison area.

Daddi Soso, an electrician, said he had seen security force vehicles taking bodies away in the early hours.

Videos circulating on social media showed dead bodies on the ground, damaged prison buildings – some burnt out – and smoke coming out of the facility.

On Monday, a government spokesperson, Patrick Muyaya, said on X there had been an escape attempt at the prison.

The DRC justice minister, Constant Mutamba, described the attempted jailbreak as “premeditated acts of sabotage” and said investigations were underway to identify and “severely punish” those who instigated it.

Makala prison is the largest in the country. It was built to hold 1,500 prisoners but housed more than 12,000 as of October last year, most of them awaiting trial, according to Amnesty International.

In 2017, at least 4,000 prisoners – more than half its population at the time – escaped after armed men stormed the building at night. More than 80 people were killed during the incident.