Top Haiti gang leader among 25 killed in prison break, hundreds on the run
- One of Haiti’s most powerful gang leaders, Arnel Joseph, was shot dead at a police checkpoint after escaping the high-security Croix-des-Bouquets prison
- The prison director and civilians were among those killed by inmates breaking out of the jail in the suburbs of the capital Port-au-Prince
More than 400 prisoners were on the run in Haiti on Friday after they escaped from jail in a violent breakout that left 25 people dead, including the prison director, officials said.
“Twenty-five people died including six prisoners and Divisional Inspector Paul Hector Joseph who was in charge of the prison,” Secretary of Communication Frantz Exantus said of the Thursday mass escape from the jail in the suburbs of the capital Port-au-Prince.
“Among those killed were some ordinary citizens who were killed by the prisoners during their escape,” Exantus told a press conference, adding 1,125 of the 1,542 prisoners at the Croix-des-Bouquets jail were in their cells on Friday.
“Police are still working on identifying all the victims,” he said.
One of the inmates who died was gang leader Arnel Joseph, who was gunned down on Friday 120km (75 miles) north of the prison.
Joseph was still wearing cuffs on his ankles when police attempted to flag down the motorbike he was travelling on at a checkpoint en route to his base in the central region of Artibonite, according to police spokesman Gary Desrosiers.
