Congo says at least 129 people died during an attempted jailbreak

At least 129 prisoners were killed in an attempted jailbreak at Congo’s biggest prison in the capital, the majority of them during a rush, according to police on Tuesday.

According to a preliminary evaluation, 24 prisoners were killed by “warning” bullets while attempting to flee from Kinshasa’s overcrowded Makala Central Prison early on Monday, Congolese Interior Minister Jacquemin Shabani stated on social media site X.

He stated that order had been restored at the jail, some of which had been destroyed by fire. “There are also 59 injured people taken into care by the government, as well as some cases of women raped,” he said.

Makala, Congo’s largest penitentiary with a capacity for 1,500 people, holds over 12,000 inmates, most of whom are awaiting trial, Amnesty International said in its latest country report. The facility has recorded previous jailbreaks, including in 2017 when an attack by a religious sect freed dozens.

According to locals, gunfire inside the prison began on Sunday night about midnight and continued until Monday morning. Rights campaigners have contested a senior government official’s prior claim that just two deaths were verified during the event.

Videos that looked like they came from the jail featured bodies on the ground, several of them with obvious wounds. Inmates were shown in another video being carried into a car by persons who looked to be dead.

The jail is situated in the city centre, 5 kilometres (3 miles) from the presidential palace, and there were no traces of forcible entry.

The attempted escape was plotted from inside the prison by inmates in one of the wings, Mbemba Kabuya, the deputy justice minister, told the local Top Congo FM radio.

In the hours that followed the attack, the road to the prison was cordoned off while authorities convened a panel to investigate the incident.

Activists claim that since Makala and other jails in the Congo are so overcrowded, famine is a common cause of death. This year, a large number of prisoners have been freed as part of attempts to clear the jail system.

The incident was described as a “premeditated act of sabotage” by Justice Minister Constant Mutamba, who also threatened anyone who “instigated these acts of sabotage… with a stern response.”

Along with other measures to ease congestion, he said that the government would not allow the transfer of prisoners from the jail and that a new prison would be constructed.