(CNN) – More than 150 female prisoners were raped and burned to death during a jailbreak last week when fleeing male inmates set fire to a prison in Goma, eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, according to a United Nations spokesperson.
According to UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Seif Magango, the fire killed the majority of the 165 female prisoners who had been raped by escaping male inmates.
Between nine and thirteen female inmates, “all of whom had also been raped,” survived the fire, according to Magango, citing a judicial source in the DRC.
“We did not independently verify the judicial official’s report ourselves, but we do consider his account to be credible,” Magango informed CNN on Thursday.
Male inmates, some of whom were killed by prison guards, planned a mass escape on January 27 as the M23 rebel alliance battled Congolese forces in Goma for control of the city, according to UN-sponsored Radio Okapi on Monday.
More than 4,000 detainees fled the Muzenze prison that day, leaving the facility “completely empty” and in ruins.
Patrick Muyaya, the DRC’s communications minister, confirmed the rape of the 165 women, telling CNN Wednesday that “the government condemns with the greatest energy this barbaric crime.”
The killings and mass rapes are reminiscent of the DRC’s long history of conflict-related sexual violence.
On Friday, the UN Human Rights Office announced that it had received reports of additional cases of sexual violence involving the DRC’s army and allied forces.
“We are verifying reports that 52 women were raped by Congolese troops in South Kivu, including alleged reports of gangrape,” said Jeremy Laurence, a spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, in a statement Friday.
CNN has asked the Congolese military for comment on the allegations.
This week, the M23 rebel group, which claims to have captured the city of Goma, called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire following clashes with government forces that killed nearly 3,000 people.
