Thousands of prisoners Escaped Haiti's National Penitentiary, located in the capital, after a night shootout between national police and armed gangs.

Ariel Henry, Haiti's Prime Minister, is currently overseas. He travelled to Kenya last week, when he signed a bilateral agreement authorising 1,000 Kenyan police officers to oversee a global security force. The United Nations approved the force to assist Haiti in combating gang violence and reestablishing stability.

PHOTO | COURTESY prison 

It was unknown where the prime minister was on Sunday. Kenyan President William Ruto's administration still needs to answer VOA's request for information on Henry's whereabouts.

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The government has not issued an official statement on the situation in Haiti. The US Embassy in Haiti has not yet issued a public statement on the weekend violence.

VOA journalists who visited the prison in downtown Port-au-Prince on Sunday discovered bodies both inside and outside the building.

An engineer stated that 99 prisoners remained inside the jail. He noted that the institution had housed approximately 4,000 convicts. He declined to provide an estimate of how many convicts were killed during the jailbreak.

PHOTO | COURTESY prison

He stated that bystanders caught in the crossfire were among the fatalities found outside the building and that the police commissioner will release official figures later. The Associated Press reported that at least five persons were murdered.

"Those who remain (inside) are ill, prisoners who were being treated at the dispensary for various illnesses," the engineer was quoted as saying by VOA.