Liberia's President George Weah has imposed a night-time curfew on the coastal county of Maryland after days of violent demonstrations involving tens of thousands of mostly female protesters.

At least 90 inmates on Wednesday escaped from a prison during the protests in Harper city, near the border with Ivory Coast.

Police spokesman Moses Carter told the BBC the demonstrators broke into the county’s prison compound in search of an alleged killer of a motorcyclist, resulting in the jailbreak.

He said the rioters also set fire to the home of the speaker of the house of representatives, who hails from the region.

Police struggled to contain the protests because as many as 20,000 and 30,000 were involved, the spokesman added.