Prison-break bid leaves 16 dead
2008-06-30 10:54
Yaounde - A Cameroon prison break on Sunday left at least 16 inmates dead as security forces exchanged fire with armed prisoners, national radio reported.
A Cameroonian rights group affiliated to the Paris-based International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) said earlier that at least 10 people had died during the escape attempt at the main prison in the economic capital of Douala.
"At least 10 people are dead," said Madeleine Afite of the House of Human Rights.
Two armed prisoners cut the jail's electricity supply in the afternoon before attempting to get through the prison's barbed wire, witnesses said.
Gunfire then broke out between prison guards and the prisoners, journalists at the scene said.
Although calm had been restored on Sunday evening, the jail, in the rough New Bell area of Douala, still had no electricity as darkness fell.
The west African nation's prisons were regularly beset by escape attempts, with overcrowding, dilapidated buildings and limited numbers of poorly-paid guards all contributory factors.
According to government figures, 23 000 inmates were in the care of 3 000 guards. Built in 1930 with a maximum capacity of 800, the New Bell prison held four times that number according to 2007 statistics.