More than 4,000 inmates serving sentences at Haiti’s main prison in the country’s capital of Port-au-Prince have been freed after armed gangs storming the facility, overpowering the jail guards and armed police.
Among the released inmates, are gang members charged in connection with the 2021 assassination of Haiti President Jovenel Moïse.
Local media in Haiti report that the profiles of all released inmates are yet to be verified, ‘But hundreds of dangerous criminals have been freed’, Haiti media say.
This comes two days after Kenya and Haiti signed a deal to send at least 1,000 police officers to the Caribbean country to help fight the hardcore gangs.
Violence in Haiti has worsened in recent years, gangs aiming to oust PM Ariel Henry, who was in Kenya to sign the ‘peace-deal’ with Kenya’s Government last week. Gang leader Jimmy Chérizier (nicknamed “Barbecue”) declared a coordinated attack to remove him.
The mass prison-break comes after the gangs also took over Haiti’s International Airport, forcing multiple flights to be cancelled last Friday.
Related: Haiti gangs seize international airport and police station.
