More than 150 female prisoners were raped and burned to death during a jailbreak last week when fleeing male inmates set fire to a prison in Goma, in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, a United Nations spokesperson has said.

A senior U.N. official in the Democratic Republic of Congo said Wednesday that nearly 3,000 people have been killed in a fighting between M23 militants and the national army over control of a key eastern city.

At least 165 women were raped by male inmates during a mass breakout from a prison in the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to the United Nations.

Hundreds of female prisoners were raped and burned alive during a jailbreak in the Congolese city of Goma. On January 27, hundreds of prisoners broke out of Munzenze prison, after the M23 rebel group began to take over the city.

Footage from the jailbreak shows people fleeing from the building as black smoke rises into the air More than 100 female prisoners were raped and then burned alive during a jailbreak in the Congolese city of Goma,

The people of Goma in North Kivu are still trying to come to terms with the fallout of the conflict in DR Congo so far. FRANCE 24's correspondent in Goma, Emmet Livingston has more.

Hundreds of female inmates were raped and burned alive as rebels stormed the Congolese city of Goma, United Nations officials said