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| More Than 50 Venezuelan Prisoners Tunnel Out |
| By Reuters |
| Published: 11/20/2001 |
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A group of 55 inmates have escaped from a prison in eastern Venezuela by tunneling into sewage pipes and crawling to freedom, in the biggest jailbreak so far this year in the South American nation, authorities said Sunday. They said the inmates of La Pica prison, in the eastern state of Monagas, were awaiting trial on charges ranging from murder to rape and armed robbery, and were highly dangerous. The prisoners took advantage of the disruption caused by an electricity blackout at dawn Saturday to make their escape, police said. So far, none of the escapees have been captured. 'The break-out took place in the early hours of the morning through a tunnel which led into the sewage system and emerged in mountains behind the prison,' Angel Gonzalez, head of the National Guard in Monagas, told Union Radio. Human rights groups say jail conditions in Venezuela, which is rich in oil but plagued by poverty and crime, are among the worst in the world. Deaths and serious injuries are almost daily occurrences among the country's 16,500 convicts, often the result of feuds between rival gangs. In August, President Hugo Chavez's government announced it would launch an emergency program to modernize the country's 25 crumbling prisons. Authorities say the prison population could double over the next year as a result of a tougher criminal legislation being introduced by the National Assembly. |
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