Seventeen dangerous criminals have escaped from Mbala State Prison, District Commissioner Best Kabulembe has confirmed.
The development has cast a dent yet again on the Zambia Prisons Service coming barely two months after a daring jailbreak at Mukobeko Maximum Security Prison, condemned section in Kabwe when three death row inmates bolted to ‘freedom’.
Two inmates have since been re-arrested after police launched an immediate manhunt for the suspects in the Northern Province District.
“A total of 17 inmates were being held in the cells at Mbala Prison and they managed to escape. After a manhunt was launched, police only managed to re-arrest two prisoners, the rest are still being hunted,” Kabulembe said.
Among the escaped prisoners, were two Tanzanian nationals who were appearing before the courts for unknown offences.
The prisoners escaped around 16:00 hours on Sunday as the district experienced a heavy downpour.
Kabulembe said the two Tanzanians were the masterminds of the escape.
He appealed to members of the public who could have information leading to the recapture of the prisoners to assist the police.
In a separate interview, police spokesperson, Elizabeth Kanjela said the prison facilities were too old and this could have eased the prisoners’ escape plan.
“I cannot state the charges that each prisoner was facing because it’s a holiday but we are working round-the-clock to recapture them and bring them back to custody,” she said.
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