Two persons were killed during a massive jailbreak by 967 prisoners in the south-east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, according to a provincial government minister.

Dikanga Kazadi, the information minister of Katanga province, said 8 armed men attacked prison guards in Lubumbashi on Wednesday, allowing the prisoners to escape.

According to the minister, police had recaptured 152 of the 967 escaped prisoners, and that the armed men had been trying to free a militant who was condemned to death.

There have been no executions in Democratic Republic of Congo since President Joseph Kabila came to power in 2001

Dikanga Kazadi said also that the two who died were a police officer and a young man who was visiting his detained brother.

There have been no executions in Democratic Republic  of Congo since President Joseph Kabila came to power in 2001.