Gunmen Crash Tractor Into Jail, Free 159
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Heavily armed men stole a tractor and crashed it through the wall of a jail in Haiti, freeing 159 of its 221 prisoners and leaving the town of Gonaives in chaos, officials said.
Officials blamed supporters of detained activist Amiot Metayer.
The courthouse and City Hall were set on fire and police retreated from the town, authorities said. One prisoner was shot and killed inside the jail.
The escapees included former army Capt. Castera Cenafils and street activist Jean Pierre Tatoune, who were serving life sentences for their role in the 1994 killing of more than a dozen people in the nearby shantytown of Raboteau.
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