Several people, including a prison guard, were shot to death Thursday in the suburbs of the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, in the escape of many prisoners, police said.
“Divisional Inspector Paul Hector Joseph, who was in charge of the Croix des Bouquets civilian prison, was killed in prison,” Gary Desrosiers, a spokesman for the Haitian National Police, told AFP.
“Several detainees escaped,” he said, unable to specify their numbers.
At least six people were shot in the streets near the prison, an AFP photographer said. Their identities could not be determined.
At noon, residents of the downtown penitentiary said they heard gunfire.
Photos and videos of men escaping from prison quickly circulated on social media.
Second-hand clothing dealers working in a market adjacent to the prison told an AFP photographer that they were obliged to hand over the goods to the newly escaped detainees.
A large police force mobilized around the prison, whose control was resumed in the afternoon.
By 2014, more than 300 detainees had already escaped from this high-security prison, built with Canadian funding and opened in 2012.