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So far 78 prisoners have been rearrested
Islamabad.- At least 200 prisoners escaped from Malir prison, in the port city of Karachi, Pakistan, on Monday night, after a wall weakened by recent earthquakes collapsed. The chaos of the escape degenerated into a riot in which at least one prisoner died and several were injured.
"The inmates took advantage of the fact that more than 600 prisoners were taken out of their barracks as a security measure during the tremors. They went through the outer wall, which had weakened due to multiple minor tremors felt in the area since Sunday. During the chaotic situation, a total of 213 prisoners managed to escape," Arshad Shah, the prison superintendent, told EFE in a new report.
So far, 78 inmates have been rearrested, while the search for the remaining 135 continues, he indicated.
The city of Karachi, in the Sindh province, has experienced a series of minor earthquakes in the last 48 hours, with a magnitude between 2.6 and 3.4.
Following these seismic events, the prisoners were evacuated from their usual barracks as a precautionary measure. Taking advantage of the situation and the compromised structural integrity of the wall, more than 100 prisoners went through the damaged section and escaped, according to the officer.
Videos shared on social media purportedly captured sounds of heavy gunfire in the vicinity of Malir prison. Some images also showed individuals believed to be inmates running on the roads near the facility.
According to Hussain, the incident caused injuries to three members of the Frontier Corps (FC), a paramilitary force in Pakistan, as a result of a stampede and a riot inside the prison.
"Five prisoners were injured and, tragically, one prisoner died during the escape," the officer stated.
The Deputy Inspector General of Prisons, Hassan Sahito, informed local media that Malir prison currently houses approximately 6,000 inmates.You may be interested in: U.S. captures an ISIS leader who helped prisoners escape in Syria
"After the earthquake, there was panic among the prisoners and they not only broke the wall, but also tried to force the locks," he said.
The provincial Interior Minister, Zia-ul-Hassan Lanjar, addressed journalists and stated that the incident was attributed to the natural disaster of the earthquake, ruling out negligence on the part of the prison authorities. The minister also assured the public that complete records of all prisoners were maintained and that among those who escaped there were no individuals classified as dangerous or involved in terrorism. Hussain further mentioned that separate legal cases would be filed against the escaped prisoners, with charges including damage to government property, demolition of the prison gate, and assault on security personnel. The Inspector General of Police of Sindh province, Ghulam Nabi Memon, told the media that most of the escaped prisoners were incarcerated for drug-related offenses. "The incident was not planned," said the provincial police chief.
