Dozens killed in attempted jailbreak in African state

More than 120 people were killed and several others injured during an attempted prison break in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo), the authorities of the Central African nation reported on Tuesday.

The incident at Makala central prison – the country’s largest penitentiary – in the capital, Kinshasa, on Monday saw the administrative building, the hospital, and the food depots destroyed by fire, Congolese Interior Minister Shabani Lukoo said in a statement.

“The provisional toll is 129 dead,” the minister wrote on X (formerly Twitter), saying that 24 of the victims were killed by gunfire and the rest died from “jostling or suffocation.”

During the riot, 59 people were injured and some women were raped, according to Lukoo, who added that the situation is now under control.

Earlier on Monday, videos purported to be from inside the prison showed several bodies on the ground. However, Deputy Justice Minister Samuel Mbemba Kabuya told Top Congo FM that the “prison was not attacked from the outside.” He went on to say that “prisoners from wing 4” of the facility attempted to escape, but none of them succeeded.