As many as 200 inmates have escaped from a prison in a Pakistani jail after authorities had moved them from their cells amid several earthquake tremors, officials have said.
Police said on Tuesday that dozens of the escapees were recaptured after they fled the jail in Karachi.
However, at least 130 are understood to remain unaccounted for. Authorities added that raids are underway to apprehend those still at large.
Of the 216 escapees who had fled from Malir Prison during the night, 78 had been recaptured, Kashif Abbasi, a senior police official, told reporters.
While there were apprehensions that among those who escaped the prison were some of the members of the proscribed terrorist organisations like Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
Though the police officers quickly rebuked the assumptions by saying “none of the escaped prisoners were convicted fighters.”
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Escapes are not common from Pakistani jails, which have stepped up security measures since an attack on a prison by the Pakistani Taliban in the town of Dera Ismail Khan, which freed hundreds of inmates.
In the aftermath of the prison break, one prisoner was killed and three security officials were wounded in a shootout that developed amid a bid to put one of the escapees back into custody.
Zia-ul-Hassan Lanjar, home minister for Sindh province, said the jailbreak happened while prisoners were removed from their cells for safety during the tremors.
Once outside their cells, a group of inmates attacked guards, seized their weapons, and opened fire. The Karachi police have launched a manhunt to nab the individuals, he said.
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