145 inmates are being reported to have escaped from a prison in Haiti, the head of the penitentiary administration in Haiti confirmed on Monday.
According to the report by AFP, the 145 inmates escaped a few days earlier from a women’s prison. The number of escapees represents two thirds of the prison population.
“At the time of the events, there were 230 detainees in the prison centre, 145 were able to escape. Among the 145 detainees who fled, three were recovered while a last one died.
The dead inmate had breathing difficulties because she suffered from asthma,” Inspector General Pierre René François, head of the prison administration, told AFP.
The escape started when one of the guards allegedly “committed the recklessness of opening the detention block when the number of guards was understaffed”, according to the first conclusions of the investigation revealed by this senior official. .
“The detainees threw themselves on the officers and overpowered them to be able to escape,” said the inspector general, adding that wanted notices would be published soon.
Frequent escapes in Haiti
At the time of the events, three police officers were injured and another killed in a police station located near the prison, because of assailants who prevented the security forces from regaining control of the prison centre. The vague circumstances of this attack also explains the delay with which this assessment was known, according to AFP.
This is not the first time that such massive escapes have occurred in Haiti. They are also caused by widespread corruption and the deterioration of the country’s institutions. Another factor is prison overcrowding, which is a national scourge.