NEARLY A DOZEN INMATES KILLED IN HAITI PRISON BREAK. (PHOTO)

 Nearly a dozen inmates killed in Haiti prison break

A prison break in central Haiti has resulted in the deaths of at least 11 inmates, the authorities said, the third such incident this year amid a continuing humanitarian crisis fuelled by gang violence.

Police said inmates broke out of a prison in the coastal city of Saint-Marc, some 88km (55 miles) north of the capital, Port-au-Prince, on Friday, Al Jazeera reported.

Eleven suspected escaped inmates were killed in shootouts with police and one was arrested, according to Michel Ange Louis Jeune, spokesman for Haiti’s National Police, according to The Associated Press news agency.

He did not provide further details, including how many inmates escaped.

“The situation is under control but the results are catastrophic. All the cops’ dormitories have burnt down. The archives have burnt down. They’ve set everything on fire except their cells,” State Prosecutor Venson Francois said, the Reuters news agency reported.

Francois warned that residents should remain vigilant and watch for escapees.

Saint-Marc Mayor Myriam Fievre, meanwhile, said 12 prisoners were killed, according to Reuters.

Social media footage that could not be immediately verified, appeared to show people climbing over walls and smoke streaming out of walls lined with barbed wire, a loud explosion and fire.

Haitian prisons are severely overcrowded and pretrial detentions can stretch for years.

Walter Montas, a local government official, said the incident spiralled from a protest as prisoners were going without food and facing poor health conditions.

In December 2014, nearly three dozen of 500 inmates escaped from a prison in Saint-Marc after sawing through steel bars, authorities said.

Conditions in Haiti’s prisons are squalid, with many cells filled to close to quadruple their capacity, the United Nations has said. A lack of basic necessities has killed 109 inmates so far this year.