Thursday, January 15, 2009 12 inmates escape from jail
TWELVE inmates, including some alleged Abu Sayyaf members, escaped Monday evening from the provincial jail in the island province of Sulu, south of Zamboanga City, a top police official said.
One inmate was killed Tuesday while trying to escape from his detention cell.
Chief Superintendent Bensali Jabarani, police chief in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (Armm), said the inmates escaped through a tunnel they managed to secretly dig inside their detention cell.
Jabarani said the inmates concealed the tunnel by covering it with carpets they used for praying. He added that investigation is ongoing to determine how the inmates managed to dig a tunnel while in detention.
He said the escape was discovered Tuesday morning when the guards conducted a head count of the inmates.
Jabarani also said that the escapees' cases range from kidnapping, homicide to murder.
They have yet to determine how many of the escapees are members of the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf bandits.
A province-wide manhunt was launched to recapture the escapees. (Bong Garcia)
