(Port-au-Prince) Prisoners escaped from the national penitentiary in Port-au-Prince, after the assault by armed gangs on Saturday evening against the main Haitian prison, according to the French embassy in Haiti and the local press.
“This Saturday evening, bandits stormed the national penitentiary of Port-au-Prince and allowed the escape of a certain number of inmates,” wrote, in a press release sent to AFP, the French embassy in the Haitian capital, inviting people to remain “cautious” and to refrain from “traveling”.
The Haitian National Police Union SNPH_17 urged all police officers and soldiers with cars, weapons and ammunition to come and reinforce the prison, in a message in Creole published on X.
Among “a significant number of prisoners released” by armed gangs are “important members of very powerful gangs,” reports the Haiti Gazette.
Several common law prisoners, known gang leaders and those accused in the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse were incarcerated in this prison located a few hundred meters from the national palace, adds the Haitian daily Le News writerwhich ensures that it does not have details on the number or profile of escaped detainees.
According to this local media, the prison, Haiti’s main prison center, “spied on since Thursday via drone by the attackers”, suffered the assault of gangs early Saturday evening.
Since Thursday, Port-au-Prince has been the scene of violence perpetrated by armed gangs claiming to want to overthrow Prime Minister Ariel Henry, currently absent from the capital, according to the News writer.
These gangs, united under the label “Living Together”, carry out coordinated attacks in the capital, particularly targeting strategic sites such as the civil prison, the international airport and police buildings.
At least four police officers have been killed since Thursday and dozens of people have been injured in a country gripped by a serious political, security and humanitarian crisis.