At least 30 inmates escape from Indonesian prison
About 30 inmates have escaped after a riot broke out at an overcrowded prison in western Indonesia.
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - About 30 inmates have escaped after a riot broke out Sunday at an overcrowded prison in western Indonesia that was set ablaze, an official said.
The riot at the Labuhan Ruku facility in North Sumatra district of Batubara began Sunday afternoon after a group of inmates who were transferred from other prisons staged a protest due to the overcrowding, said prison official Wibowo Jokoharjono.
He said others joined in the protest before it turned violent, leading to the beating of a prison warden. Two guards were held captive by the inmates.
Jokoharjono said initial reports said about 30 inmates had escaped by climbing a prison wall. The prison has a capacity to house 300 inmates but is now sheltering about 800.
Ten fire trucks were needed to extinguish the fire while police and soldiers blocked roads around the prison, which is located 140 kilometers (90 miles) from the province capital of Medan.
It was the second jailbreak in the province and the third in Indonesia this year.
In July, about 240 prisoners, including convicted terrorists, escaped following a riot at a facility in Medan, the country s third-largest city, after they set fires and started a deadly riot that left five people dead. About 90 convicts remain at large.
Days later, 12 inmates overpowered guards and escaped from another crowded prison in Bata, off Sumatra island.
