Hundreds of escaped prisoners: dead after escaping from prison in Haiti

A violent escape from a prison in Haiti has killed at least 25 people – including the country’s most wanted criminals, according to government figures. More than 200 prisoners remain at large.

Hundreds of prisoners escaped from a prison in Haiti, killing at least 25 people, among them many civilians. A government spokesman said that among the dead was the leader of the gang, and until his arrest in 2019, was the most wanted criminal in Haiti. He was identified on a motorbike and shot in a police shootout.

According to observers, the alleged cause of the widespread outbreak may have been an attempt by Joseph to free himself. He was charged with murder, kidnapping and rape in the Croix-de-Bouquet detention center, northeast of the capital Port-au-Prince. Local residents said that the gunmen appeared, shot guards and then inmates poured out. The prison director was among the dead.

More than 200 prisoners escaped

She added that more than 200 prisoners were still at large, and 60 inmates had been arrested again by Friday evening (local time). At the time of the outbreak, there were 1,524 prisoners, twice the planned number. As of 2014, more than 300 of the 899 inmates at the time had escaped from the same prison. It was also suspected that a prominent prisoner was due to be released from prison.

The largest prison escape so far in modern Haitian history came after the devastating earthquake in 2010, when more than 4,200 inmates escaped from the infamous National Prison in the center of the capital.