KARACHI: Around 213 inmates managed to escape from the Malir prison in Karachi last night after they were shifted outside their cells due to safety concerns when the city was shaken by tremors, Sindh’s top police officer said on Tuesday, confirming that one prisoner had also been killed.
Sindh Home Minister Zia-ul-Hasan Lanjar told reporters earlier that inmates at the Malir prison in Karachi panicked when tremors shook the city on Monday night. He said it became difficult to prevent around 1,000 inmates from escaping through the outer gate of the jail, which had been damaged by the quake.
“The incident occurred when prisoners were temporarily moved out of their barracks due to safety concerns,” Inspector-General Sindh Ghulam Nabi Memon told Arab News.
“Taking advantage of the chaos, around 1,000 inmates gathered at the jail’s main gate and 213 prisoners managed to force the gate open and flee.”
Memon said 78 of the prisoners who had managed to flee were re-arrested by police. In his interaction with reporters on Monday night, Lanjar confirmed that no “hardened criminal” had managed to escape the jail following the late-night chaos.
Memon said Malir prison houses small-time offenders, particularly those involved in narcotics and its consumption.
“The escapees were mostly from this category and their mob mentality played a role in escaping the jail,” he said.
He confirmed Lanjar’s statement that one prisoner had been killed as police attempted to maintain order following the jailbreak. The Sindh home minister had also said five persons, which included both prisoners and police officials, were injured in the clashes.
