HAITI is in a state of emergency after after a deadly gang assault on the capital’s main prison saw 4,000 inmates freed.
The capital of Port-au-Prince, dubbed the “world’s most dangerous city“, has descended into civil war after the jail break sparked riots and dozens were killed in the chaos.
ReutersThe jailbreak has plunged Haiti into further chaos as violence exploded in the capital[/caption]
AFPDead bodies have been strewn across streets in Port-au-Prince[/caption]
APArmed gangs stormed Haiti’s main prison on Saturday[/caption]
A 72-hour state of emergency began Sunday night, and the government said it would set out to find the killers, kidnappers and other violent criminals that it reported escaped from prison.
The emergency decree was issued after a deadly weekend that marked a new low in Haiti’s downward spiral of violence.
At least nine people had been killed since Thursday four of them police officers as gangs stepped up coordinated attacks on state institutions in Port-au-Prince, including the country’s international airport and the national soccer stadium.
But the attack on the National Penitentiary late Saturday was a big shock Haitians, even though they are accustomed to living under the constant threat of violence.
Almost all of the estimated 4,000 inmates escaped, leaving the normally overcrowded prison eerily empty Sunday with no guards in sight.
Three bodies with gunshot wounds lay at the prison entrance.
In another neighbourhood, the bloodied corpses of two men with their hands tied behind the backs lay face down as residents walked past roadblocks set up with burning tires.
Among the few dozen that chose to stay in the prison are 18 former Colombian soldiers accused of working as mercenaries in the July 2021 assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Mose.
Amid the fighting Saturday night, several of the Colombians shared a video pleading for their lives.
“Please, please help us,” one of the men, Francisco Uribe, said in the message widely shared on social media. “They are massacring people indiscriminately inside the cells.”
THIS IS A DEVELOPING STORY..
The Sun is your go to destination for the best football, boxing and MMA news, real-life stories, jaw-dropping pictures and must-see video.Like us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/TheSunFootball and follow us from our main Twitter account at @TheSunFootball.
EPAHaiti’s main prison has almost all of its 4,000 inmates freed[/caption]