“Division inspector Paul Hector Joseph, who is in charge of the civil prison of Croix des Bouquets, was killed in the prison,” Gary Desrosiers, the spokesperson for the Haitian national police, told AFP news agency on Thursday.Multiple prisoners have escaped,” he added, without specifying the number.
Before his arrest, Joseph was the most-wanted gang leader in Haiti.
During the escape, at least six people were shot dead in the streets near the prison, an AFP photographer observed. The victims’ identities could not be determined.Around midday, inmates at the prison in the heart of downtown said they heard bursts of gunfire.
Photos and videos showing men escaping the jail quickly went viral on social media.
Employees at second-hand clothing stores located in a market adjacent to the prison told an AFP photographer that they were forced to give their merchandise to the escaped prisoners.
A large police force was mobilised to the prison, regaining control of the building in the afternoon.
Haiti’s Prime Minister Joseph Jouthe told Le Nouvelliste newspaper that authorities have retaken control of the prison, which was also the site of a considerable prison break in 2014, during which hundreds of prisoners escaped.At least 400 prisoners were on the run as of Friday, according to reports, while at least 40 have been recaptured.
Some suspect the jailbreak was aimed at freeing Joseph, although authorities have not provided details about who organised the escape or why. Residents who declined to be identified because they feared for their life told the AP that they saw gunmen shoot at prison guards on Thursday before inmates escaped from the Croix-des-Bouquets Civil Prison in northeast Port-au-Prince.
It is unclear how many inmates escaped, although Desrosiers said at least 40 were recaptured.
The prison is known for a 2014 breakout in which more than 300 of the 899 inmates being held there at the time escaped.
President Jovenel Moise said in a tweet that he condemned the jailbreak and asked people to remain calm. He added that Haiti’s National Police “is instructed to take all measures to bring the situation under control”.
Inaugurated in 2012, the high-security Croix-des-Bouquets prison was built with funding from Canada and has a maximum capacity of 872 inmates, although nearly double that number were incarcerated there before the escape.
