Nearly 80 inmates escape Haiti prison as protesters clash with police, demand President Moise stand down
- The exact circumstances of the escape are unclear, but witnesses said it took place during a demonstration in front of the police station adjoining the prison
- In Port-au-Prince thousands took to the streets, setting fire to cars and looting stores, expressing frustration over social inequality and corruption
At least six people have died in nearly weeklong protests demanding that President Jovenel Moise resign in Haiti, which saw fresh tensions and a major prison break Tuesday.
All 78 detainees at the prison in Aquin, a city of around 100,000 on the south coast of the country’s Tiburon Peninsula, escaped around midday, a national police spokesman said.
The exact circumstances of the escape are unclear, but witnesses said it took place during an anti-Moise demonstration in front of the police station adjoining the prison.
Some 200km (120 miles) north of the prison, Port-au-Prince also saw clashes between police and hundreds of protesters in working-class neighbourhoods.
Thousands of people took to the streets. After police forces dispersed them, some set fire to cars and looted stores to express their mounting frustrations over growing social inequalities worsened by systemic corruption.