Curfew ordered in Haiti after thousands of prison inmates escape
Authorities in Haiti have ordered a night time curfew after gangs overrun its two largest prisons at the weekend and released thousands of inmates.
A 72-hour state of emergency began on Sunday night as the Government vowed to find the killers and violent criminals who were sprung out from jail.
"The police were ordered to use all legal means at their disposal to enforce the curfew and apprehend all offenders," said finance minister Patrick Boivert, who is serving as acting prime minister.
An estimated 4,000 prisoners escaped the National Penitentiary late on Saturday.
Prime Minister Ariel Henry travelled abroad last week seeking support for a United Nations-backed security force to help stabilise Haiti in its conflict with increasingly powerful crime gangs.
At least nine people have been killed since Thursday, four of them police officers, as gangs stepped up coordinated attacks on state institutions in the capital Port-au-Prince, including the country's international airport and the national football stadium.
Among the few dozen that chose to stay in the prison are 18 former Colombian soldiers accused of working as mercenaries in the July 2021 assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse.
In a message widely shared on social media, one of the men, Francisco Uribe said: “Please, please help us. They are massacring people indiscriminately inside the cells.”
He told journalists he did not flee because he was innocent. Colombia's foreign ministry called on Haiti to provide "special protection" for the men.
A second Port-au-Prince prison containing around 1,400 inmates was also overrun.
Gang gunmen also occupied and vandalised the nation's top football stadium, holding one employee hostage for hours.
Gunfire was separately reported in several neighbourhoods in the capital, while internet service for many residents was down as fibre optic cables were slashed during the rampage.
The surge in attacks follows violent protests that turned deadlier in recent days as the prime minister went to Kenya seeking to move ahead on a proposed UN-backed security mission in Haiti to be led by that East African country.
Mr Henry took over as prime minister following Moise's assassination and has repeatedly postponed plans to hold parliamentary and presidential elections, which haven't happened in almost a decade.
Jimmy Chérizier, a former elite police officer known as Barbecue who now runs a gang federation, has claimed responsibility for the surge in attacks.
He said the goal is to capture Haiti's police chief and government ministers and prevent Mr Henry's return.
The prime minister, a neurosurgeon, has rejected calls for him to resign and has not commented on whether he feels it is safe to return home.