Haïti : 174 inmates escape prison

Scores of inmates from a Haitian prison escaped Saturday after killing an officer and stealing weapons, authorities said. Judge Henry Claude Louis-Jean said others were injured in the prison break that occurred in Arcahaie, a coastal town about 50 kilometers north of Haiti’s capital.

With the support of U.N. peacekeepers, a manhunt was launched to track down the 174 escaped inmates. Police set up checkpoints along roads near the prison. Eleven inmates have been caught, but police are still searching for the other escapees.
“One guard was killed during the incident. Three prisoners were wounded, including one who died as a consequence of his wounds,” Camille Edouard Junior, Haiti’s minister of justice, told Reuters.

According to police, the inmates attacked officers after they were released from an overcrowded holding pen to bathe. Edouard Junior said a prisoner died after he hit his head falling off a wall during the attack.

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