Indonesian security forces have successfully rounded up most of the 250 inmates who escaped during a mass breakout from an overcrowded prison on Sumatra island.
More than 200 inmates broke out of the jail in Pekanbaru city, on Sumatra island, after they were let out of their cells to pray on Friday.
Almost 80 were quickly recaptured after the breakout and by Saturday the majority of the escaped inmates had been rounded up.
The inmates reportedly took part in the failed mass escape due to poor conditions in the cramped prison, while others have complained about unfair treatment from guards.
‘So far 209 inmates have been recaptured or surrendered willingly, many have returned to their cells,’ local police spokesman Guntur Aryo Tejo told AFP, adding that the authorities did not have the exact number of inmates still on the loose.
Footage broadcast on local TV stations showed scores of men, some wearing sarongs, scurrying through the gates of the Sialang Bungkuk prison with no sign of officials in pursuit.
They headed to the main door of the jail and tried to break though it. When this failed they headed for the side entrance and broke through a wire fence.
Some residents found the inmates trying to steal their motorbikes.
Most of the prisoners were recaptured by plain clothed officers while still near Pekanbaru.
Dozens of the escaped inmates headed directly to another prison where they handed themselves in.
Tejo also said the inmates told police they decided to escape due to ‘inhumane conditions’ in the prison.
The male-only prison has a capacity of 300 people but was holding 1,870 inmates, with only five guards and a porter on duty at any one time.
‘They also complained about unfair treatment by the prison guards,’ Tejo said.
More than a thousand inmates who did not escape the prison were refusing to return to their cells unless the head guard was replaced.
Jailbreaks are common in Indonesia, where inmates are held in often unsanitary conditions at overcrowded prisons.
There was a spate of breakouts in 2013, including one where about 150 prisoners – including terror convicts -escaped from a jail on western Sumatra island.
An additional 400 police and military personnel have been deployed to guard the prison.
Dramatic photos show the police’s attempt to recapture those that had escaped. Prisoners can be seen with cuts to their faces as they are dragged back into custody.
Other captured prisoners can be seen tied up with make-shift handcuffs. In other images, villagers can be seen beating prisoners found in the streets.
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