HUNDREDS of women were raped and then burnt alive after Rwandan-backed rebels stormed a female prison in Congo.

The atrocity happened in the city of Goma when freed male prisoners turned on the women’s wing at Munzenze jail last week.

M23 fighters had clashed with the Congolese army in deadly gun battles before busting open the prison.

The UN said rampaging male inmates forced their way into the women’s wing to rape, butcher and murder them.

As thousands of male criminals fled, the jail was torched and the women were burned alive, according to Vivian van de Perre, the deputy head of the UN peacekeeping force in Goma.

Images show thick black smoke billowing into the sky after the horror on January 27.

Gut-churning tales of the violence inside soon began to emerge.

Reports suggest at least 141 jailed women were murdered, along with 28 young children who had been held inside with their mothers.

Van de Perre said: “There was a major prison breakout of 4,000 escaped prisoners.

“A few hundred women were also in that prison.

“They were all raped and then they set fire to the women’s wing. They all died afterwards.”

The atrocity looks to be the worst violence yet of the recent M23-led conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

Local reports suggest that guards gunned down inmates as they tried to stop the chaos – but were overwhelmed.

Now, a week on from the disaster, Munzenze jail lies deserted and in ruins.

Huge parts of it were completely destroyed by the blaze and it was also looted in the wake.

The prison was notoriously overcrowded before the incident, housing around 4,400 inmates – well beyond its capacity.

The UN had warned this week that sexual violence was being used as a weapon of war by rival armed groups in Goma.

The city, home to more than one million people, fell completely under the total control of M23 forces.

But, in an unforeseen development late on Monday, the militant group announced a ceasefire that began on Tuesday.