The incident occurred on Thursday in northeast Port-au-Prince at the Croix-des-Bouquets Civil Prison, which is known for a 2014 breakout in which more than 300 inmates escaped.

Residents in the area who declined to be identified out of concern for their safety told The Associated Press that they observed a group of heavily armed men start shooting at prison guards before the inmates began to flee.

One escapee, 37-year-old Jhon Hippolyte, was shot in the back. He told the AP that he was serving a sentence for murder and was in the infirmary when he noticed everybody running and decided to join them.

AP journalists saw the bodies of at least seven men along streets near the prison. They had been shot. Their identities were not immediately available, and it wasn't clear if they were inmates or who had killed them.

Video captured by residents shows one police officer leading a group of men tied together with a rope. It wasn't immediately clear if they were inmates.

Authorities could not be immediately reached for comment.

Australian Associated Press