Initially, a senior government official confirmed only two deaths, a figure disputed by rights activists.
Agency Report
KINSHASA – An attempted jailbreak at Makala Central Prison in Kinshasa, Congo’s capital, resulted in at least 129 deaths, mostly from a stampede.
According to Congolese Interior Minister Jacquemin Shabani, 24 inmates were shot dead by “warning” gunshots as they tried to escape from the overcrowded facility early Monday. “There are also 59 injured people receiving care from the government, along with some cases of women being raped,” Shabani stated on social platform X. He added that order had been restored, though part of the prison was burned during the attack.
Makala, Congo’s largest penitentiary, is designed to hold 1,500 people but currently houses over 12,000 inmates, most of whom are awaiting trial, according to Amnesty International. The prison has a history of jailbreaks, including a 2017 incident where an attack by a religious sect freed dozens of inmates.
Gunfire erupted inside the prison around midnight, continuing into Monday morning, residents reported. Initially, a senior government official confirmed only two deaths, a figure disputed by rights activists.
Videos purportedly from the prison showed bodies lying on the ground with visible injuries, and another video depicted inmates carrying what appeared to be dead bodies into a vehicle.
There were no signs of forced entry at the prison, located in the city centre, just 5 kilometres (3 miles) from the presidential palace. The escape attempt was allegedly orchestrated by inmates in one of the prison wings, Deputy Justice Minister Mbemba Kabuya told Top Congo FM radio.
Following the attack, authorities cordoned off the road to the prison and convened a panel to investigate the incident. Makala, like other prisons in Congo, suffers from severe overcrowding, with many inmates dying from starvation, according to activists. This year, scores of inmates have been released in an effort to reduce the prison population.
Justice Minister Constant Mutamba condemned the incident as a “premeditated act of sabotage” and vowed a “stern response” to those responsible. He also announced a ban on transferring inmates from the prison and outlined plans to build a new facility to alleviate overcrowding.