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61 Tanjung Gusta Penitentiary escapees recaptured
The National Police claimed on Friday afternoon to have recaptured 61 out of the as many as two hundred inmates who had fled from the Tanjung Gusta Penitentiary in Medan, North Sumatra, after setting the prison ablaze on Thursday night
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he National Police claimed on Friday afternoon to have recaptured 61 out of the as many as two hundred inmates who had fled from the Tanjung Gusta Penitentiary in Medan, North Sumatra, after setting the prison ablaze on Thursday night.
'The 61 prisoners are currently being detained in Binjai, Langkat and Belawan Police offices,' National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Ronny F. Sompie said as quoted by kompas.com.
The number of recaptured escapees rose from the 42, including one terrorist convict, that had been reported captured as of 11 p.m. on Thursday. The Tanjung Gusta prison holds 22 terrorism convicts.
Ronny said that 800 personnel, including soldiers, had been deployed to guard the Tanjung Gusta Penitentiary complex. He added that the police had beefed up security inside and outside of Medan in order to recapture the escaped inmates.
The Law and Human Rights Ministry disclosed early on Friday that five people died during the blaze and riot in the prison on Thursday night -- two of them were prison officials and the other three were prisoners.
The ministry also acknowledged that the penitentiary had accommodated prisoners far beyond its maximum capacity.
'Ideally, the prison can accommodate only 1,054 prisoners, but in reality the number of inmates by July 11 in the prison had reached around 2,600. Also, when Thursday's riot took place, there were only 15 guards on duty,' spokesman for the ministry's corrections directorate general, Akbar Hadi Prabowo, said.
The riot took place after convicts staged a rally inside the prison earlier on Thursday protesting against electricity and water stoppages. The inmates escaped after fire engulfed the prison.
There are conflicting reports on the number of escaped inmates, ranging from 150 to 200. (hrl)
