NEW DELHI, June 5. /TASS/. Police have managed to apprehend 104 of more than 200 prisoners who escaped from the Malir prison in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi during an earthquake evacuation, the Geo News TV channel reported.
Some of the prisoners returned to the prison voluntarily. As many as 111 criminals who remain at large are still being sought. Law enforcement agencies are conducting large-scale operations to apprehend them.
Late on June 2, the administration of the Malir prison, located in the city of Karachi in the Sindh province, decided to evacuate prisoners from some of the cell blocks after a 3.2 earthquake and a series of aftershocks. The massive jailbreak unfolded after more than 600 inmates were removed from their cells - over 200 inmates managed to open the prison gates and escape. One prisoner was killed and a prison officer and three military servicemen were injured in the ensuing chaos.
The head of the Sindh Interior Ministry, Zia Ul Hassan Lanjar, said that the escape was the largest in recent years and may have been partly caused by staff failure. An investigation committee will look into how the prison staff handled the emergency.
The Malir prison holds many inmates convicted of terrorism, serious criminal offenses, and drug smuggling.