Haitian police on Sunday were hunting for nearly 500 prisoners who escaped after an armed attack on the national penitentiary that sparked a riot and left one guard dead. Two prominent allies of ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who had been rushed to a secure location during the attack Saturday night, were returned to the prison, authorities said. Guards had rushed former Prime Minister Yvon Neptune and former Interior Minister Jocelerme Privert to a secret location when the attack occurred and inmates began rioting, and the two were later turned over to U.N. soldiers, Damian Onses-Cardona, a spokesman for the U.N. peacekeeping mission, told The Associated Press. "They were taken back to prison in U.N. vehicles," Onses-Cardona said Sunday. "They insisted on returning to make clear they didn't try to escape."Onses-Cardona said authorities were investigating whether the attack, which came as Aristide partisans prepare to mark the anniversary of his Feb. 29 flight from the country, was aimed at freeing Neptune and Privert. Chilean Ambassador Marcel Young denied reports that the two men had escaped and sought asylum from foreign embassies before being recaptured. Young said he met with them Saturday and "they were only concerned about their security. Once that was arranged, they asked to go back to the prison."
The two men are accused of orchestrating killings of Aristide opponents during a rebellion in the western town of Saint-Marc. Both men have said they are innocent. They are among dozens of Aristide officials and supporters detained since Aristide fled Haiti amid a three-week rebellion. None have been formally charged. Foreign Minister Herard Abraham said in a radio address that 481 of more than 1,250 prisoners at the prison had escaped. He said heavily armed men had attacked the prison, without elaboration, only adding that police were aggressively seeking fugitives. Privert's wife, Ginette Privert, was among of dozens of people waiting outside the prison Sunday for information about their relatives. "I haven't heard from him or seen him so I don't know if he's OK," she said of her husband. "I've been waiting three hours and they still won't let me in."