23 Prisoners on the Run After Daring Escape in Pietermaritzburg
- KwaZulu-Natal police have launched a manhunt for prisoners who escaped in Pietermaritzburg on Wednesday morning
- The incident occurred as the police were transporting the prisoners to court
- The transport vehicle was held up by five armed men who proceeded to release the prisoners in an extremely risky operation
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The KZN police have launched a manhunt after 23 prisoners escaped when the truck they were being transported to court in was hijacked on Wednesday morning.
IOL reported that police spokesperson, Brigadier Jay Naicker, said that the incident occurred on Wednesday morning at around 8am.
Source: Twitter
Two police officers had been transporting prisoners from the PMB New Prison to the Pietermaritzburg Magistrate's Court when they were blocked by a double cab bakkie with five gunmen inside.
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Naicker went on to say that the gunmen pointed firearms at the police officers before forcing the back door of the truck open. Of the 45 prisoners in the vehicle, 31 managed to make a run for it. The police have 22 of the 45 in their custody.
Police in KwaZulu-Natal are now searching for 23 still at large.
This is a developing story.
Meanwhile, Briefly News previously reported that two prisoners escaped from a cell in Pretoria by digging a hole in the wall. The inmates broke out of Kgosi Mampuru II Correctional Centre, leaving correctional services confused as to how they pulled it off.
Correctional services spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo said that they had been making plans to capture the criminals after their great escape.
One of the inmates, Thabo Zacharia Muyambo had been serving a life sentence on 21 convictions, including robbery, rape and kidnapping. The other inmate, Johannes Chauke, had been serving 20 years for housebreaking.
Inmates told the Sowetan that the convicts who escaped used a sharp object to dig a hole through the wall.
An inmate said:
"We think they will be conducting a search in that section again because it is compulsory to establish if more inmates escaped."
Nxumalo said that correctional services have lodged an investigation into the matter. Members of the public have been urged to come forward should they have any information. Mzansi social media users were stunned to hear the news that inmates had managed to escape a prison cell. Here is an interesting comment from a particular user:
@1Katrazmoney: "This is a cooked story, I don’t believe this rubbish. What kind of a hole is that? When Ananias Mathe escaped they spoke of Vaseline on the grill-guard window and blankets and it was discovered it was a lie."
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Source: Briefly News
