MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
A mass breakout from one of the Democratic Republic of Congo's largest prisons has drawn attention to the horrific conditions there. More than 100 prisoners were killed - either shot dead or crushed - after they tried to escape Monday from the infamous Makala prison. It's in the capital of Kinshasa. Emmet Livingstone has our story. And here's where I want to let you know there is a brief sound of gunfire in the story.
EMMET LIVINGSTONE: The mere name Makala strikes fear into many here. The prison is notorious for its abominable conditions and massive overcrowding. But in the early hours of Monday morning, the prison tipped into full-blown chaos as inmates tried to mount an escape. What happened next isn't completely clear, but what is certain is that it was mayhem. Footage circulated on social media - shouting and gunfire in the dark. By dawn on Monday, over 120 prisoners had been killed.
UNIDENTIFIED PRISONER: (Speaking Lingala).
LIVINGSTONE: "They've killed us. They've killed us," one of the unnamed prisoners shouts in Lingala, one of the local languages. In images of the aftermath, inmates heap dead bodies on top of one another. There's no prison uniform in Makala. Most are wearing just underwear. According to the Congolese government, some of the prisoners took advantage of an electricity outage to steal a power tool from a workshop and then started breaking through doors and walls.
Built in 1957, towards the end of the Belgian colonial era, Makala prison was originally designed to house about 1,500 inmates. It now houses some 12,000, according to an Amnesty International report from last year. Although other estimates put the number of inmates even higher. Conditions are dire. Fred Bauma, the executive director of Kinshasa-based think tank Ebuteli - who has himself been jailed in Makala - said that dirt and disease are everywhere.
FRED BAUMA: (Speaking French).
LIVINGSTONE: "The conditions are very, very bad," he told us. "People sleep on the ground. People don't have access to clean sanitary facilities. There's a risk for several illnesses. There are regular epidemics, and prisoners die all the time." In the last year alone, over 500 prisoners died in Makala, according to a Congolese NGO, with reasons ranging from malnutrition to suffocation inside overpacked cells. For now, the Congolese government has urged judges to stop sending people to Makala as a stopgap, but the prison remains open.
For NPR News, I'm Emmet Livingstone in Kinshasa. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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