UN experts' suspected killers escape DR Congo jail

Two men suspected of involvement in the murder of two UN experts investigating mass killings in the Democratic Republic of Congo escaped from prison overnight, a defence lawyer said Tuesday.

The pair, Evariste Ilunga Lumu and Tshiaba Kanowa, fled the central prison in Kananga, in central DRC, Lumu's lawyer Tresor Kabangu told AFP. He was informed of their disappearance by the military prosecutor's office.

At dawn on Tuesday, heavy gunfire could be heard from the vicinity of the prison in Kasai-Central province.

An AFP correspondent reported that by morning, the situation at the prison was tense with inmates in the yard threatening to attack anyone who ventures inside.

Military and police officials were at the scene, awaiting reinforcements to enter the prison and do a headcount to determine how many have escaped.

The experts -- Zaida Catalan, a 36-year-old Swedish-Chilean national, and American Michael Sharp, 34 -- were in Kasai on behalf of the UN Security Council to investigate mass graves associated with a rebellion.

They were abducted and killed on March 12, 2017.

Kinshasa initially blamed the murders on members of the Kamwina Nsapu (Black Ant) militia, who embarked upon a campaign of armed violence after troops killed their leader in August 2016.

In 2017, a UN panel concluded that the pair was likely killed during a random ambush by members of a militia group, while refusing to rule out involvement of the authorities.

But an investigation by Radio France Internationale (RFI) and Reuters the same year implicated three state agents in the organisation of the attack.

Fourteen people, including Lumu and Kanowa, are being investigated.

Last Thursday, the military tribunal handling the trial set a May 16 date for the next hearing.

Lumu had admitted in court to participating in the killing and said he had mutilated one of the victims.

Four of the Kasai region's five provinces were the scenes of deadly unrest between September 2016 and October 2017 as government forces clashed with the Kamwina Nsapu tribal militia.

The fighting cost 3,000 lives, according to UN estimates.