129 people were killed and 59 injured early Monday morning in an attempted escape from Makala Central Prison. the biggest of Democratic Republic of Congo, the government of that country said, quoted by Reuters Agency.
24 prisoners were killed by police shots, the rest by suffocation. In addition, during the escape attempt, a fire destroyed the offices, the infirmary and the food warehouse. The prison, originally designed for 1,500 people, currently houses about 14,000 inmates.
“The attempted mass escape from Makala Central Prison has resulted in human casualties and significant material damage,” Chabani Lukoo, Congo’s interior minister, said on the social network X.
Not a single prisoner managed to escape and all who tried were shot dead, Makala prison said.