PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Hundreds of inmates have fled Haiti’s main prison after armed gangs stormed the facility overnight. At least three people were dead Sunday.
The jailbreak marked a new low in Haiti’s downward spiral of violence and came as gangs assert greater control in the capital, Port-au-Prince, while embattled Prime Minister Ariel Henry is abroad trying to salvage support for a United Nations-backed security force to stabilize the country.
Three bodies with gunshot wounds lay at the prison entrance, which was wide open, with no guards in sight. Plastic sandals, clothing and electric fans were strewn across normally overcrowded concrete patios.
Authorities had yet to provide an account of what happened. Police inside a police vehicle parked outside would not comment.
Arnel Remy, a human rights attorney whose nonprofit works inside the prison, said on X, formerly Twitter, that fewer than 100 of the nearly 4,000 inmates remained behind bars.
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.”
On Sunday, Uribe told The Associated Press “I didn’t flee because I’m innocent.”
In the absence of official information, inmates’ family members rushed to the prison to check on loved ones.
“I don’t know whether my son is alive or not,” said Alexandre Jean as she roamed around the cells looking for any sign of him. “I don’t know what to do.”
During an exchange of gunfire Saturday night, police also appealed for assistance.
“They need help,” a union representing police said in a message on social media bearing an “SOS” emoji repeated eight times. “Let’s mobilize the army and the police to prevent the bandits from breaking into the prison.”
Clashes elsewhere in Port-au-Prince overnight interrupted internet service for many residents as Haiti’s top mobile network, Digicel, said a fiber optic cable connecting the country to the rest of the world was cut.
The clashes follow violent protests that turned deadlier in recent days as the prime minister went to Kenya to salvage a proposed security mission in Haiti to be led by the East African country. Henry took over as prime minister following Moise’s assassination and has repeatedly postponed plans to hold parliamentary and presidential elections, which haven’t occurred 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 U.N. They are routinely overwhelmed and outgunned by gangs, which are estimated to control up to 80% of Port-au-Prince.
As part of coordinated attacks by gangs, four police officers were killed Thursday in the capital when gunmen opened fire on targets including Haiti’s international airport. Gang members also seized control of two police stations as civilians fled and businesses and schools closed.
After the violence at the airport, the U.S. Embassy said it was temporarily halting all official travel to Haiti.
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.
The prime minister, a neurosurgeon, has shrugged off calls for his resignation and didn’t comment when asked if he felt it was safe to come home.
He signed reciprocal agreements Friday with Kenyan President William Ruto to try and salvage the plan to deploy Kenyan police to Haiti. Kenya’s High Court ruled in January that the proposed deployment was unconstitutional in part because the original deal lacked reciprocal agreements between the countries.
The violence has complicated efforts to stabilize Haiti and pave the way for elections. Caribbean leaders said Wednesday that Henry had agreed to schedule a vote by mid-2025 — a far-off date likely to further enrage Henry’s opponents.
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Associated Press writers Joshua Goodman in Miami and Danica Coto in San Juan, Puerto Rico, contributed to this report.