More than 100 female inmates of an African prison were raped and burned alive during a jailbreak, the United Nations said. 

The incident occurred in the Congolese city of Goma after M23 rebels captured the urban centre in a lightning raid last week.

The M23 fighters freed male prisoners at the Munzenze prison, following deadly gun battles with the Congolese army.

The male prisoners then rampaged through the jail, breaking into the women's wing, where they raped, butchered and murdered them.

As thousands of male criminals fled, the jail was set alight and many women were burned alive.

The UN estimates that between 165 and 167 women died, as well as 28 young children, during the horrific incident.

Video images show acrid black smoke rising from the prison complex after it was torched.

People can also be seen fleeing the complex, amidst the sound of heavy gunfire.

In another video, people believed to be the escaped prisoners filed through Goma's streets.

Vivian van de Perre, the deputy head of the UN peacekeeping force in Goma, 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."

Goma was captured after the Rwanda-backed M23 made a rapid advance through eastern DR Congo.

Bodies lay scattered around on streets as missiles flew over residential buildings.

Earlier this week, the rebels announced a ceasefire on humanitarian grounds.

The city, which is home to over million people, has been described as the "the most dangerous city in the world", due to its location to the nearby active Nyiragongo Volcano.