5 Killed as 78 Inmates Flee in Guatemala Jail BreakThree prisoners and two guards died and 78 prisoners escaped in the biggest jail break in the history of Guatemala which took place on weekend, Guatemala's Interior Minister Byron Barrientos said.The jail riot took place on Sunday in Guatemela's maximum- security prison, known popularly as "Little Hell" in the Escuintla district 55 kilometers south of Guatamela City, capital of the Central American country. The director of the prison Felipe Sandoval told reporters late on Sunday that the riot broke out during Sunday's visiting hours, and some inmates used weapons they had hidden and quickly shot to death a prison guard and a female police officer. More than half of the prison's 140 inmates fled, while the others remained in the facility because they did not want to take part in the escape. Interior Minister Byron Barrientos said that among the escapees are six men whose death sentences were confirmed by an appeal court last week for the 1998 kidnapping and murder of a university student. The senior official added that one of the prisoners was killed by the inmates before they escaped, and two others drowned trying to cross a river outside the facility. He revealed that some officials of the prison have been arrested for the accusations of presumed participation in the massive escape. "It's unbelievable. I don't know how this could have occurred." Byron Barrientos said, adding that the prisoners had to get through 24 different locks and sophisticated security systems to break out. Guatemala's Defense Minister Eduardo Arevalo told reporters that more than 1,000 army soldiers were working with police in a massive manhunt in mountains and forest near the prison, but only nine of the fugitives were recaptured moments after the escape. In the last major Guatemalan jail break, 10 dangerous prisoners escaped from a Guatamela City prison in January 2000. Only three of them have been recaptured. |
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