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Ammon News - More than 120 people have been killed in an attempted mass breakout from the largest prison in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the latest in a series of violent attacks on jails in the central African nation.

Prisoners tried to break out en masse from the Makala Central Prison in the capital, Kinshasa, at around 2 a.m. local time (9 p.m. ET) on Monday, Interior Minister Jacquemain Shabani Lukoo Bihango told reporters.

“The provisional human toll stands at 129 dead including 24 by gunshot after warning. The others died by jostling, suffocation and some women were raped,” Bihango said. He added that 59 people were receiving medical care.

Extensive damage to several prison buildings was also seen in interior ministry video. A large hole is shown in one exterior wall, where bricks appear to have been removed, while the walls of other buildings are black and burnt out.

Prison breaks are common in the DRC, with several attacks being launched on correctional facilities in recent years.

More than 50 inmates, including the leader of a religious sect, broke free from the Makala prison in 2017 following an invasion by the group.

And in 2020, a rebel group linked to ISIS claimed responsibility for a jailbreak that freed nearly 1,000 inmates from a prison in Beni, in northeastern DRC. At least 11 people, including security personnel, were killed in that attack.

Another prison break was recorded the following year at Matadi, one of the country’s oldest prisons, which saw the escape of 189 prisoners. More than 200 other detainees escaped from the same prison in 2022 after seizing weapons from the facility’s armory.

CNN