A group of prisoners escaped from the national prison in PortauPrince on Saturday after an attack by armed gangs and amid a wave of unrest that has rocked the country for several days, the reported French Embassy and local media.
“On Saturday evening, a group of criminals broke into the state prison in PortauPrince and allowed an unknown number of prisoners to escape,” the French embassy in the Haitian capital wrote in a statement sent to AFP. The message appealed for “prudence” and the avoidance of “repressions”.
For its part, the Haitian National Police Union called on police officers and soldiers who have cars, weapons and ammunition to go to prison to strengthen security, according to a message in Creole published on the social network X. Among the escaped prisoners are “key members of very powerful gangs,” the Gazette d'Haïti newspaper reported.
This prison, located just a few blocks from the National Palace, has held common criminals, gang leaders and also people accused of the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in 2021, the newspaper Le Nouvelliste reported.
Since Thursday, the attackers had been spying on the prison, the country's main prison, using drones, the media added.