By Ashraf Abdul-Wahab.
Tripoli, 2 February 2014:
Fifty-five prisoners escaped yesterday from the Bawabat Al-Jibs prison on Tripoli’s Swani . . .[restrict]Road when they managed to overpower prison guards. It is the latest in a growing list of jailbreaks that has now seen more than 1,600 inmates escape over the past year.
According to a spokesman for the Judicial Police, which is responsible for security at the prison, the breakout happened during breakfast. He said there were just five guards on duty at the time for 200 inmates. The prisoners who were standing in line to receive their food, turned on the guards and disarmed them.
The Judicial Police Authority says everything is being done to recapture the escapees, with names and photos being circulated to checkpoints, ports, airports and border crossings.
Last August, a number of prisoners who were being transferred from the nearby prosecution office in Swani back to the prison managed to escape when the Judicial Police vehicle they were being transported in was ambushed by masked gunmen. [/restrict]
