Democratic Republic of Congo’s government said an attempted prison break took place overnight at the central Makala prison in the capital Kinshasa.
In a statement on Monday morning, the government said security forces now had the situation under control and an investigation would take place.
Gunfire rang out around 2:00 am (100 GMT), one prisoner told Reuters. Another described being woken up by the sounds of prisoners outside, followed by heavy gunfire.
“Some wards were opened, others were not, and the soldiers were shooting at everything that moved,” a third prisoner told Reuters.
The prison hospital and its administrative building were on fire, a prison official told Reuters on Monday morning, noting that documents may have been destroyed.
Another prison official said no prisoners had succeeded in escaping.
“Those who tried to do so were killed,” the official said.
