Police say more than 1,500 prisoners have escaped from a prison in Mozambique, taking advantage of ongoing political unrest sparked by disputed election results.
Clashes with guards left 33 people dead and 15 injured, police chief Bernardino Rafael said at a news conference.
Around 150 other refugees have now been recaptured, he added.
Protests broke out on Monday in response to Mozambique’s highest court confirming that the ruling Frelimo party, in power since 1975, had won October’s presidential election.
Mr. Rafael said groups of anti-government protesters approached the prison in the capital Maputo on Wednesday. Inmates took advantage of the unrest to tear down a wall and escape, he said.
Mozambique has been rocked by unrest since disputed elections in October. Official results showed that the ruling Frelimo’s presidential candidate, Daniel Chapo, won.
Protests erupted again on Monday when the Constitutional Court ruled that Chapo had won the election but revised his margin of victory downward.
Early results in October showed Daniel Chapo winning 71% of the vote compared to 20% for his main rival, Venâncio Mondlane. The court has now ruled that he won 65%, while Mondlane won 24%.
A BBC reporter found Maputo resembled a ghost town on Christmas Eve, with almost all shops closed and people staying at home to avoid being caught up in the city’s worst unrest since Frelimo came to power in 1975.
Frelimo offices, police stations, banks and factories were looted, destroyed and set on fire across the country. At least 21 people have been killed in the unrest since Monday, the interior minister said late Tuesday.
Mondlane, who has since fled Mozambique, called on his supporters to demonstrate against what he believed was a rigged vote.
In a social media message over the weekend, he said there could be a “new popular uprising” if the result was not overturned.
About 150 people have been killed in the three months of protests since the election.
