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| Mass Jailbreak at Latin America's Biggest Prison |
| By Reuters |
| Published: 07/10/2001 |
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One hundred and five inmates tunneled out of Latin America's biggest jail on Sunday and escaped onto the streets of Brazil's business capital, police said. The prisoners escaped in early afternoon in broad daylight from the Detention Center unit of the sprawling Carandiru complex, located just blocks from the financial heartland of Sao Paulo city. 'They got out through tunnels that had been dug from the inside and joined up with sewers on the outside,' said Francisco Sobrinho, an officer at Sao Paulo police headquarters. One man had been recaptured, Sobrinho said. The mass escape is the latest incident at the penitentiary that was the scene of Brazil's worst prison massacre in 1992 when armed riot police stormed the prison to quell an uprising. More recently, Carandiru prisoners in February used smuggled cellular phones to mastermind a statewide rebellion involving 29,000 inmates. The riot and 27-hour standoff was Brazil's largest rebellion and prompted officials to announce the demolition of the Detention Center within a year. The unit houses 7,200 inmates in often squalid conditions and in installations built for less than half that number. |
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