Hundreds of inmates have fled Haiti’s main prison after armed gangs stormed the facility in an overnight explosion of deadly violence that engulfed much of the capital.
The jailbreak on Saturday night marked a new low in Haiti’s downward spiral of violence. It began on Thursday as gangs stepped up coordinated attacks in Port-au-Prince while embattled prime minister Ariel Henry is abroad trying to salvage support for a UN-backed security force to stabilise the country.
Jimmy Chérizier, a former elite police officer known as Barbecue who now runs a gang federation, has claimed responsibility for the surge in attacks. He said the goal was to capture Haiti’s police chief and government ministers and prevent Henry’s return.
On Sunday, three bodies with gunshot wounds lay at the entrance to Haiti’s National Penitentiary, which was wide open, with no guards in sight, the Associated Press reported. Plastic sandals, clothing and electric fans were strewn across empty concrete patios that are normally overcrowded.
In another neighbourhood, the bloodied corpses of two men with their hands tied behind their backs laid face down as residents walked past roadblocks set up with burning tires.
Haiti’s government urged calm as it sought to find the killers, kidnappers and perpetrators of other violent crimes that it said had escaped during the outbreak of violence.
“The National Police is taking all measures to find the escaped prisoners and arrest those responsible for these criminal acts as well as all their accomplices, so that public order can be restored,” the communications ministry said in a post on X.
It was unclear how many inmates were on the run but Arnel Remy, a human rights attorney whose nonprofit works inside the prison, said on X that fewer than 100 of the nearly 4,000 inmates remained behind bars.
“I’m the only one left in my cell,” one unidentified inmate told Reuters.
Sources close to the institution said it was likely an “overwhelming” majority of inmates had escaped. The penitentiary, built to hold 700 prisoners, held 3,687 as of February last year, according to rights group RNDDH.
The BBC cited a local journalist who said the vast majority of about 4,000 men held there had escaped.
Those choosing to stay included 18 former Colombian soldiers accused of working as mercenaries in the July 2021 assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse. On 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.”
The violence on Saturday night appeared to be widespread, with several neighbourhoods reporting gunfire.
There were reports of a jailbreak at a second Port-au-Prince prison containing about 1,400 inmates. Armed gangs also occupied and vandalised the nation’s top soccer stadium, taking one employee hostage for hours, the nation’s soccer federation said in a statement.
Internet service for many residents was also down as Haiti’s top mobile network said a fibre optic cable connection was slashed during the rampage. Field teams managed to fully restore the connection on Sunday afternoon.
In the space of less than two weeks, several state institutions have been attacked by the gangs, who are increasingly coordinating their actions and choosing once unthinkable targets like the Central Bank.
Henry took over as prime minister following Moise’s assassination and has repeatedly postponed plans to hold parliamentary and presidential elections, which have not taken place in almost a decade.
Haiti’s National Police has roughly 9,000 officers to provide security for more than 11 million people, according to the UN. They are routinely overwhelmed and outgunned by gangs, which are estimated to control up to 80% of Port-au-Prince.
Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report
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