At least 129 people were killed during a weekend prison break attempt at the largest jail in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the interior minister said on Tuesday.
“The provisional human toll is 129 dead, including 24 who were shot after warnings,” minister Jacquemain Shabani said in a video message, adding that at least 59 others had been wounded at the Makala prison in the capital, Kinshasa.
His ministry said several people had been crushed or suffocated and a number of women had been raped.
Witnesses told AFP gunfire had started at the prison at around 2:00 am on Monday morning and lasted for several hours.
