Post date: Jul 12, 2013 12:30:23 PM
Indonesian police say 64 inmates have been recaptured, after 240 broke out of a jail in Sumatra.
MEDAN, NORTH SUMATRA, INDONESIA (JULY 12, 2013) (REUTERS) - Indonesian security forces have recaptured 64 out of 240 inmates who broke out of jail the previous day, authorities said on Friday (July 12).
The prisoners escaped from a maximum security prison in Indonesia's fourth-largest city, Medan, late on Thursday (July 11) after a protest over a lack of water and electricity turned violent, a police spokesman said.The prisoners fled after a fire broke out inside the prison that killed at least two inmates and two prison officials, a police official said.
"There were 240 prisoners who fled and 64 have been caught," Chief Security Minister Djoko Suyanto said. "There were 14 terrorist prisoners in the prison, five decided to stay in jail, four were recaptured and five prisoners are still at large," Suyanto said.
Those 14 are believed to have links to Toni Togar, who is currently serving a 20-year sentence in a separate prison for a series of church bombings in Sumatra in 2000, the Jakarta Post reported on Friday.
The prison in Medan holds more than 2,500 inmates, the newspaper said, quoting Justice MinisterDenny Indrayana. If true, that would put the prison population nearly 150 percent above its capacity of 1,054.