Not less than 12 persons have been reported dead, and several others injured after thousands of inmates escaped the main prison in Port-au-Prince as the gang violence in Haiti continues to surge.
The crisis is said to be triggered by a call to oust Prime Minister Ariel Henry from office.
Jimmy Cherizier, a former police officer known as Barbecue led the gangs who attacked the jail in the country’s capital on Saturday night.
Pierre Esperance from the National Network for Defense of Human Rights reported that, following the assault, only around 100 of the estimated 3,800 inmates remained in the prison.
“We counted many prisoners’ bodies,” he stated.
An AFP reporter who visited the prison on Sunday observed about a dozen bodies outside, with an open gate and scarcely any presence inside.
Also, Reuters reported the absence of police officers and an open main door at the prison.
“I’m the only one left in my cell. We were asleep when we heard the sound of bullets. The cell barriers are broken,” an unidentified inmate said.
The Haitian government confirmed police efforts to repel the gang attack on the National Penitentiary and another facility named Croix des Bouquets.
The government acknowledged “several wounded” among prison staff and inmates, expressing gratitude to the population for maintaining calm during the crisis.
Gang violence in Haiti intensified following Cherizier’s call for criminal groups to unite against Henry.
Cherizier, leading an alliance of gangs, faces sanctions from the United Nations and the United States.
Authorities cautioned the public to exercise caution and support the National Police’s efforts to track down fleeing prisoners.
Henry became prime minister after the assassination of Jovenel Moise in July 2021. He was due to step down by early February. However, shortly before he travelled to Kenya, he proposed elections by August 2025, citing stability concerns.
Haiti’s last elections held in 2016.
Meanwhile, Henry’s whereabouts remain unclear, although he was billed to return from Kenya after signing a security deal to combat gang violence in the country.