Haiti prison break leaves 12 dead as inmates go hungry

By Harold Isaac

PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) -A prison break in the Haitian city of Saint-Marc left 12 inmates dead on Friday, Mayor Myriam Fievre said, the third such incident in Haiti in recent months amid a protracted humanitarian crisis fueled by gang violence.

State Prosecutor Venson Francois said the situation on Friday afternoon was under control at the prison, which housed around 540 inmates, but the local population should remain vigilant and watch for escapees.

"The situation is under control but the results are catastrophic. All the cops' dormitories have burnt down. The archives have burnt down. They've set everything on fire except their cells," Francois said.

Earlier in the day, unverified videos shared on social media showed people climbing over walls and smoke streaming out of walls ringed with barbed wire, a loud explosion and fire.

Walter Montas, a local government official, said the incident had developed out of a spontaneous protest as prisoners were going without food and facing appalling health conditions.

The national police did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for more information on the incident in Saint-Marc, some 55 miles (88 km) north of the capital.

More than 7,500 people were being held in Haitian prisons at the end of June, according to U.N. data, down from nearly 12,000 before gangs broke thousands out of the two largest prisons in early March.

The March prison break triggered a state of emergency that was soon followed by the resignation of former Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who had traveled abroad to secure Kenya's support in a security mission to battle the armed gangs, and was unable to return due to the fighting.

Just 400 of 1,000 police pledged by Kenya have so far arrived, and of the other countries which pledged personnel to support Haiti's under-resourced police, none have deployed.

With many cells filled to close to quadruple their capacity, the U.N. said poor conditions and a lack of necessities have resulted in the deaths of at least 109 inmates so far this year.

Local newspaper Le Nouvelliste reported that prison officials had been on strike demanding better government treatment. It cited Francois, the prosecutor, expressing "great fear of mutiny," without giving more details.

Police have struggled to hold off gangs as the delivery of funds, personnel and equipment for the U.N.-backed security mission first requested in 2022 continues to lag.

The conflict has forced close to 600,000 to flee their homes for elsewhere in Haiti and some 5 million people - close to half the population - into severe hunger.

(Reporting by Harold Isaac and Sarah Morland; Writing by Brendan O'Boyle; Editing by Alistair Bell and Deepa Babington)