PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti: A jailbreak at a prison in northern Haiti has led to a lockdown of the streets of the coastal city of Port-de-Paix as authorities try to recapture the escapees with the pair still at large, police said Saturday.
Six fugitives have been apprehended since Friday night’s escape. Four others were shot dead.
Gang violence that began in late February – plunging impoverished and politically unstable Haiti deeper into chaos – has led to more than 4,600 inmates escaping prisons, according to the United Nations.
In the north-western department of Haiti, a relatively quiet area compared to the country’s gang-ridden capital Port-au-Prince, police spokesman Leonel Joseph told a news conference that “out of the eight fugitives, six have already been caught”.
Four inmates were shot while trying to escape from the 37-person cell block where the jailbreak took place, he added.
The cellblock holds prisoners convicted of violent crimes who are considered dangerous, Deputy Government Commissioner Jeir Pierre, said speaking on Port-au-Prince’s Magik 9 radio station.
In order to recapture the fugitives, the judicial and police authorities ordered all residents to leave the streets of Port-de-Paix. Detonations were heard in the city, a local resident said.
Pierre suggested that the escape was made possible by negligence.
“The warden opened the cell door to help an inmate who was apparently unwell and it was at this point that the fellow inmates took advantage of the situation to force open the prison door and escape,” he said, adding that the two officers have been placed in solitary confinement while the investigation is ongoing.
Haiti has been politically unstable for decades. However, since late February, the gangs have launched coordinated attacks on strategic locations, claiming they want to topple then-prime minister Ariel Henry.
Since the outbreak of gang unrest, “more than 4,600 inmates have escaped from the two main prisons in Port-au-Prince, at least 22 police stations and sub-stations and other police buildings have been looted or set on fire, and 19 police officers have been set on fire.” killed or injured,” the UN said in mid-April.
Henry resigned last month and a transitional presidential council is now in charge with the difficult task of trying to re-establish law and order in the Caribbean country.
