Barely five days after the jailbreak in Beni Kangbayi Central Prison on October 20, 2020, which saw the escape of over 1,000 inmates, a prisoner in the Isiro Central Prison in Upper Uele, Democratic Republic of Congo, who attempted to escape from confinement on Sunday, October 25, died.
According to Omary Mbazi Stephane, Director of Isiro Central Prison, one detainee was shot dead by the police as he attempted to escape.
“The attempt occurred around past 16 hours when the doors of the prison were opened to allow a vehicle carrying food enter, which is the same time when the doors of cells are open.
“There was a prisoner who wanted to take advantage of the opened doors to escape. Unfortunately, he was intercepted by the security guards who were outside the prison. In the altercation that followed, the prisoner was shot dead, ” the director said.
The prisoner was being held on suspicion of association with criminals and had been moved to Isiro Prison only 48 hours earlier.
Stephane told the media that the prison was at an advanced stage of dilapidation and with such faulty infrastructure, the temptation to escape was so high among inmates.
“This is the same situation in several other prisons in the country and we are pleading for an amelioration of prison infrastructure in the country, ” the director said.
“We plead with government to build for us a new prison that would respond to prison norms, in fact, a prison with a fence. If we had a fence round the prison the incident would have been nipped in the bud before it happened, ” he said.
The Isiro prison currently holds 1,000 inmates, including four foreign nationals.
The Beni prison jailbreak occurred when rebel fighters broke the facility.
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