According to the government spokesman, several deaths recorded during the escape attempt at Makala prison were victims of suffocation and jostling.

Speaking on France 24, regarding the latest escape attempt at Makala central prison, Minister of Communication and Media and government spokesperson Patrick Muyaya said: "Listen, that's why we're going to investigate to identify the circumstances that led to it, but here we have to be careful with words, certain words that we use because when you represent the State and you have a prison that is located in a working-class neighborhood, there is an escape attempt and from the inside the kitchen, the pharmaceutical depot and everything that was set on fire, you have fire, the police have an obligation to intervene. Now we're going to question the nature of the intervention, but I'm sure, and moreover as you've noticed, the deaths that we deplore the most are deaths by suffocation because there was suffocation, there was jostling, and we hope that the investigation will allow us to understand all these circumstances very quickly."

Regarding the overcrowding in this detention center, Patrick Muyaya noted: "The issue was already taken care of, the Minister of State, Minister of Justice and Keeper of the Seals had already started the process of decongesting the prison because we know and this is not only the case in Kinshasa. There is a program in the country that aims in particular to build new prisons."

For the Minister of Communication and Media, the incident that occurred will accelerate the process that had already begun. And in addition to what was said today in the measures that have been taken, there will be increased vigilance at the level of the prison services to detect this type of behavior that could have degenerated into problems a little more serious than what we have experienced."

The government spokesperson also indicated: "The decongestion is a process that began recently but you know in most cases this situation has been going on for a long time but the issue has been tackled head on not only in Makala prison in Kinshasa but in other prisons, you know there are judicial processes. We must know how to identify each prisoner, in what circumstances he arrived at this place and what must be done to get him out. It cannot be done automatically either but we must consider the issue has been tackled head on and then there are programs in particular because Makala prison which is located right in the middle, it is also in my constituency, will have to be relocated to be sure that the prisoners are in the required prison conditions."

Currently, he added, the reasons for the attempted escape from the Kinshasa Penitentiary Re-education Center (CPRK) remain unknown, but the toll announced by the government is already considerable, although disputed by some civil society organizations. According to the authorities, some died from gunshots after warning shots, others died as a result of jostling, from suffocation, and several women were raped.