Nearly 50 inmates escaped from a prison in the southwest of the Democratic Republic of Congo between Monday night and Tuesday, August 12, local sources said.
Arsene Kasiama, coordinator of a local civil society organisation, told AFP that 47 of the 104 prisoners at Idiofa’s central prison had fled. The facility, located about 600 kilometres east of the capital Kinshasa, was built in 1937 under Belgian colonial rule and is one of many outdated and overcrowded prisons in the country.
Kasiama said the escapees were all housed in one of the prison’s two remaining cells and, struggling to breathe, broke through a wall to flee. “The officer on duty fired several shots” to stop them, he added, but none of the fugitives were killed.
Idiofa administrator Adelard Kintolo confirmed the prison break and acknowledged that the penitentiary “no longer conformed to standards”. He warned that the worn-out walls and failing fence could lead to further escapes. “We ask the government to take this into account… they could consider the construction of a new prison facility to improve detention conditions,” he said.
Rights groups in the DRC have repeatedly criticised the country’s prison conditions, urging authorities to address overcrowding and invest in safer, more humane facilities.
