More than 100 inmates escaped from the rundown central prison in Uvira, an area on the shores of Lake Tanganyika in South Kivu, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), after a demonstration over conditions, area administrator Eoloko Nsala said.

"The detainees said they were starving. They staged an angry protest before threatening the prison chief," said Nsala.

He said the state could not afford to feed and take care of detainees: "The prison’s food supplies had dried up. Even the donations by Caritas [a Catholic non-governmental organisation] had been suspended, leaving the prisoners without anything to eat."

Bishop Amisi Abika of Caritas said his organisation stopped supplying food to the prisoners at the beginning of 2007. "The situation for the prisoners has become terrible since we stopped taking care of them," he added.

The escape took place on 1 August while guards tried to calm the rioting prisoners and return them to their cells. Nsala said only 35 of the 130 prisoners remained inside after the incident. The others overpowered the guards, taking their guns.

Nsala said some of the arms seized by escapees were later found outside the prison, which is in a state of disrepair. The building is old, with cracked walls, unsanitary cells without locks and broken toilets, he said, adding, however, that security measures were being reinforced in the prison with extra police guards.

According to Nsala, this is the first prison break from Uvira, but escapes have been common in other DRC prisons.

In the latest incident, the escapees fled towards the highlands and mountains of Uvira. Seven of them were, however, later caught.