At least 129 people were killed during an attempted prison break at the main prison in the capital Congo, most of them in a stampede, officials said on Tuesday (September 3, 2024).
Congolese Interior Minister Jacquemin Shabani said on social platform X that a provisional assessment showed 24 prisoners were killed by “warning” shots as they tried to escape from the overcrowded Makala prison in Kinshasa early Monday.
In its latest country report, Amnesty International said Congo’s main prison, Makala, which has a capacity of 1,500 people, holds more than 12,000 inmates, most of them awaiting trial. The facility has previously recorded prison escapes, including an attack by a religious sect in 2017 that freed dozens of people.
Residents reported that the shooting inside the prison began at midnight on Sunday and lasted until Monday morning. A senior government official had earlier said that only two people were confirmed dead during the incident, but human rights activists have disputed this figure.