DR Congo jail break attempt leaves 129 dead

KINSHASA - An attempted jail break from DR Congo's largest prison has left at least 129 people dead and led to women being raped, the interior minister said.

The circumstances around the bid to bust out of the Makala prison in the capital Kinshasa, which holds 10 times the number it is meant to house, in the early hours of Monday remain unclear.

On Monday, witnesses told AFP they had heard gunfire at around 2am that lasted for several hours in the area of the prison, a popular and residential neighbourhood.

Democratic Republic of Congo Interior Minister Jacquemain Shabani in a statement released by video on Tuesday announced a provisional death toll of 129 people.

They included "24 who were shot after warnings", he said.

At least 59 others had been wounded and were receiving care, he said, adding that many people had been crushed or suffocated and that a number of women had been raped. 

In the early hours of Tuesday, gunshots rang out again in the neighbourhood, several witnesses said.

"I heard the gunshots around 5am," Sacre, a taxi driver who did not want to give his surname, told AFP.

He also said that the streets in the area were unusually calm with police and soldiers on patrol, AFP journalists saw. 

Daddi Soso, an electrician in his forties, said he had seen security force vehicles taking bodies away in the early hours of Monday. Police cordoned off the streets leading to the prison. 

The authorities have given no indication as to how many inmates escaped or attempted to do so.

On Monday morning, government spokesman Patrick Muyaya said only that the security services were at the scene and asked residents not to panic.

A few hours later, he said on national television that the situation was "under control". 

Justice Minister Constant Mutamba later announced on X that inquiries were under way "to identify and severely punish the sponsors of these acts of sabotage".

The ambassador of Belgium, the DRC's former colonial ruler, branded the events "tragic" in a post on X and said that the investigations had to "shed light" to determine those responsible.

As well as the human toll, the escape attempt caused damage to buildings, with part of the prison, mainly housing the administrative offices, set on fire, the government said.

The prison was already badly damaged during an attack in 2017 that led to more than 4,000 prisoners escaping, some of them described as "dangerous" by police.