YAOUNDE – At least four people were killed after inmates attempted to escape from a prison in Chad, according to local sources and media reports on Saturday.

The incident occurred at 9 p.m. local time on Friday at Mongo Prison in central Chad.

Sources inside the prison said weapons were smuggled into the prison during a protest against poor conditions at the facility. Prisoners then seized the opportunity and broke out of the prison to escape.

Four prisoners were killed, and several prison guards were injured, security sources were quoted by local media as saying.

More than 130 prisoners managed to escape, according to the latest figures reported by local media.

XINHUA

MONGO, Chad – More than 100 inmates escaped a Chad prison during a shoot-out that left three people dead, and wounded a state governor visiting the facility, officials told AFP on Saturday.

The break-out occurred late Friday when an uprising happened in the high-security penitentiary five kilometers (three miles) from the town of Mongo, in the center of the country.

“There are around 100 who escaped, three dead and three wounded,” Hassan Souleymane Adam, secretary general of the Guera province in which Mongo is located, said.

A local Mongo official, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, said prisoners broke into a manager’s office to steal guns.

“A shootout with guards ensued, at the same time the governor arrived. He was wounded,” he said.

The Mongo official confirmed there were three dead, and put the total number of escaped prisoners at 132.

He said the prisoners revolted after complaining about a lack of food.

Chad’s Justice Minister Youssouf Tom told AFP by telephone that he was about to fly to region and would be able to give “precise information once I am at Mongo in the coming hours.”

AN-AFP