Thousands of inmates broke free from the main prison in Democratic Republic of Congo’s eastern city of Goma early on Monday (January 27) in the midst of a rebel offensive in the city, a prison agent and a resident said.
Eyewitness video uploaded to social media showed a crowd running from the prison and smoke rising from buildings inside the complex.
Reuters was able to confirm the location by the buildings, fence, trees and terrain seen in the video which matched satellite imagery. The men seen in the video are leaving the prison grounds but their identity could not be independently verified. The date when the video was filmed was verified by reports of prisoners escaping Goma’s main prison on Monday.
Rwandan-backed rebels marched into east Congo’s largest city Goma on Monday and troops from the east African neighbours exchanged fire over the border in the worst escalation of the long-running conflict for more than a decade.
The rebel alliance spearheaded by the ethnic Tutsi-led M23 militia said it had captured the lakeside city of over 1 million people, which lies on the border with Rwanda and was also briefly occupied by M23 in 2012.
Gunfire rang out near the airport, in the city centre and on the border, with two residents reporting ongoing clashes between government-aligned militia and M23 fighters.
