About 1,685 “seriously ill” prisoners have been released from a notorious prison in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The movement to tackle overcrowding in prisons began on Sunday at the Macala prison in the capital Kinshasa.

In the same prison in early September 129 prisoners died during an attempted escape from the prison. Some were shot by security forces, while others were killed in a stampede.

The government, as reported by the BBC, has pledged to speed up plans to decongest the prison, where conditions have been described as “real hell”.

A series of pictures posted on the DR Congo’s Justice Ministry’s Facebook page show prisoners with serious problems.

A man emaciated and with dirty bandages around his right leg is being carried in a construction trolley. Another photo shows dozens of malnourished men, one of whom has an open wound. A third man appears unable to stand.

The justice minister said in a statement that those who need medical attention will be provided care, while the rest will be sent home in buses chartered by the government.

The Makala prison was built in the 1950s and has a capacity of 1,500 inmates, but now has at least 12,000 people.