More than 400 prisoners escaped and 25 people died in a prison break in Haiti, officials say, making it the largest and deadliest country in a decade. A prison director and a powerful gang leader were among the dead.
The Croix-des-Bouquets prison escape on the outskirts of the capital Port-au-Prince on Thursday was considered an attempt to free gang leader Arnel Joseph, who was Haiti’s most wanted fugitive until his arrest in 2019 for charges that included rape, kidnapping and murder.
Joseph, who reportedly still wore prison chains around his ankles, was being driven on a motorcycle through the Artibonite area in the city of L’Estere on Friday, the day after his escape, when he was spotted at a checkpoint, said the police spokesman Gary Desrosiers Associated Press. He said Joseph drew a gun and died in an exchange of fire with the police.
Joseph ruled Village de Dieu, or Village of God, a slum in Port-au-Prince, and other communities, including some in Artibonite, which is Haiti’s largest department.
Authorities have not yet provided much details about the escape, except to say that 60 prisoners have been recaptured and the investigation is ongoing. Secretary of State Frantz Exantus said the authorities had set up several commissions to investigate who organized the escape and why. Among the dead was the prison director, identified as Paul Joseph Hector.
Residents who declined to be identified because they feared for their lives said they saw gunmen shooting prison guards on Thursday before prisoners escaped Croix-des-Bouquets prison.
The prison is known for an escape in 2014 in which more than 300 of the 899 prisoners escaped. Some believe the attack was designed to free Clifford Brandt, the son of a prominent businessman, who has been in prison since 2012 for allegedly kidnapping the adult children of a rival businessman. Brandt was captured two days later, near the border with the Dominican Republic.
After the 2014 escape, authorities said they were taking steps to increase security in the prison, including installing security cameras and placing ankle monitors on the most dangerous prisoners. It was not immediately clear whether any of these measures were taken. At the time of Thursday’s escape, the prison held 1,542 prisoners, almost twice its capacity.
Haiti’s biggest prison break in recent history came after the devastating 2010 earthquake, in which more than 4,200 prisoners fled the notorious national penitentiary in Port-au-Prince.
Haitian President Jovenel Moise tweeted on Friday that he condemned the most recent jailbreak and asked people to remain calm. He added that the Haitian national police were “instructed to take” all measures “to control the situation.
Meanwhile, Helen La Lime, special representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Haiti, said in a statement that she was deeply concerned about the riot and the escape from prison.
“I encourage the police to speed up investigations into the circumstances surrounding this incident, to redouble their efforts to relearn the fugitives and to strengthen security in prisons across the country,” she said.
“This escape from prison further highlights the problem of prolonged preventive detention and prison overcrowding, which remains a cause for concern and must be addressed urgently by Haitian authorities.”