Authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have said at least 129 people have been killed while trying to escape from the central Makala prison in the capital Kinshasa.
In a statement posted on X early Tuesday morning, Interior Minister Shabani Luku said inmates attempted a breakout on Monday amid a fire that engulfed the building’s administrative buildings, including the infirmary.
“There have been 129 deaths, including 24 shootings after the warning,” Luku said in a statement posted on X.
He said that “considerable physical damage has been done.”
Luku said he was holding “emergency” meetings with defense and security services, but that calm had been restored.
Makala prison is the largest in the DRC and was built to hold 1,500 prisoners.
It currently has between 14,000 and 15,000 detainees, according to official figures. Most of them are awaiting trial, Amnesty International said in its most recent country report on the DRC.
Previous jailbreaks have been reported at the prison, including in 2017 when more than 4,000 inmates escaped from the facility following a nighttime attack by armed men.
Authorities have been trying to reduce overcrowding by freeing dozens of prisoners in recent months.
There was no public comment on Monday’s incident from Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi, who is in China on an official visit.
Justice Minister Constant Mutamba called the attack “A premeditated act of vandalism” was undertaken to undermine efforts to improve prison conditions.
“Investigations are underway to identify and severely punish the perpetrators of these acts of vandalism. They will get a strong response,” Mutamba said.
He also announced a ban on transfers of inmates from jails and said officials would build new jails, among other efforts to reduce overcrowding.
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