(AFP) - An attempted jail break at the Democratic Republic of Congo's largest and chronically overcrowded prison this week has left at least 129 people dead, the interior minister said Tuesday.

The circumstances around the bid to bust out of Makala prison in the capital Kinshasa in the early hours of Monday remain unclear.

But Interior Minister Jacquemain Shabani in a statement released by video to the media on Tuesday announced a provisional death toll of 129 people.

They included "24 who were shot after warnings", he said.

At least 59 others had been wounded and were receiving care, he added.

Witnesses told AFP that they had heard gunfire at around 2:00 am on Monday and that it lasted for several hours in the area of the prison, a popular and residential neighbourhood.

Daddi Soso, an electrician in his 40s, said he had seen security force vehicles taking bodies away in the early hours.

On Monday, police had cordoned off the streets leading to the prison, AFP journalists at the scene saw.

The interior minister said many people had been crushed or suffocated and that a number of women had been raped. He gave no details on their identities.

- 'Under control' -

The authorities have given no indication as to how many inmates escaped or attempted to do so.

On Monday morning, government spokesman Patrick Muyaya said only that the security services were at the scene and he called on residents to "not panic".

A few hours later, he told national television the situation was "under control".

Justice Minister Constant Mutamba later announced on X that inquiries were under way "to identify and severely punish the sponsors of these acts of sabotage".

Makala prison, the biggest in the vast central African nation, has capacity for 1,500 inmates.

But it is highly overcrowded and rights organisations regularly complain about the conditions of detention at the jail.

With between 14,000 and 15,000 prisoners, it holds around 10 times the number it is meant to house, according to official statistics.

As well as the human toll, the escape attempt caused damage to buildings.

A part of the prison, mainly that housing the administrative offices, was set on fire, the government said.

The prison was already badly damaged during an attack by armed men in 2017, which led to more than 4,000 prisoners escaping, some of them described as "dangerous" by police.

The circumstances leading to that large prison escape were never made clear despite the establishment of a commission of inquiry.

© Agence France-Presse