Hundreds of inmates have fled Haiti’s main prison after an armed group stormed it, sparking deadly violence that engulfed much of the capital overnight.
Saturday night’s jailbreak marked a new low in Haiti’s downward spiral of violence. The incident came Thursday as gangs stepped up coordinated attacks in Port-au-Prince as embattled Prime Minister Ariel Henry tried to salvage aid to U.N.-backed security forces to stabilize the country. It started with
Jimmy Sheridier, a former elite police officer known as Barbeque who now runs a gang association, has claimed responsibility for the spate of attacks. He said the aim was to detain Haiti’s police chief and government ministers and prevent Henry’s return.
Three bodies with gunshot wounds lay at the entrance to Haiti’s national prison on Sunday, with no guards in sight, the Associated Press reported. Plastic flip-flops, clothing and fans littered the usually crowded empty concrete courtyard.
In another area, the bodies of two men, their hands tied behind their backs, lay face down in blood as residents passed barricades set up with burning tires.
Haiti’s government has called for calm as it searches for alleged killers, kidnappers and other perpetrators of violent crimes who fled during the outbreak of violence.
The Ministry of Communications said in a post on ” he said.
It’s unclear how many prisoners are on the loose, but Arnel Remy, a human rights lawyer who runs a nonprofit in prisons, told said there were less than 100 people.
“I’m the only one left in the cell,” one unidentified prisoner told Reuters.
Officials close to the facility said it was likely that the “vast majority” of inmates had escaped. The prison was built to house 700 prisoners and had 3,687 inmates as of February last year, according to rights group RNDDH.
BBC Quoted from a local journalist He said the majority of the approximately 4,000 men held there had escaped.
Those who chose to remain include 18 former Colombian military personnel accused of working as mercenaries in the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse in July 2021. On Saturday night, several Colombians shared videos pleading for their lives.
“Please help us,” one of the men, Francisco Uribe, said in a message widely shared on social media. “They are slaughtering people indiscriminately in their cells.”
The violence Saturday night appeared to be widespread, with gunshots reported in several areas.
There were reports of a prison breakout at Port-au-Prince’s second prison, which houses approximately 1,400 inmates. The country’s soccer federation said in a statement that armed groups had seized and destroyed the country’s highest soccer stadium, taking one employee hostage for several hours.
Haiti’s largest mobile network said its fiber-optic cable connections were cut during the riot, so internet service for many residents was also down. Teams on the ground were able to fully restore connectivity on Sunday afternoon.
In less than two weeks, several state institutions have been attacked by gangs, which are increasingly coordinating their actions and choosing once-unthinkable targets like central banks.
Henry, who became prime minister after Moïse’s assassination, has repeatedly postponed plans to hold parliamentary and presidential elections, which have not been held for almost a decade.
According to the United Nations, the Haitian National Police employs approximately 9,000 police officers to ensure the safety of more than 11 million people. They are routinely overwhelmed and overpowered by gangs that are estimated to control up to 80% of Port-au-Prince.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report
