MEXICO: CHIAPAS: 77 INMATES ESCAPE FROM PRISON
(5 May 1999) Spanish/Nat Approximately 77 escaped inmates are on the run in southern Mexico after a jailbreak that left one prisoner dead and five other people wounded. Police in the state of Chiapas have mounted a massive manhunt for the inmates, but only two of the prisoners have been apprehended. The escape happened after a bungled transfer of eight inmates. The prisoners escaped on Tuesday from the prison, 10 miles east of San Cristobal de las Casas, amid a hail of gunfire. Two dozen rifles were taken and numerous passing vehicles were hijacked. The escaped inmates, who reportedly were holding two female prison employees hostage, were serving sentences or awaiting trial on charges ranging from robbery to murder. They allegedly began the uprising to protest plans to move them to other facilities. A mob of about half of the prison's 250 inmates, reportedly armed with sticks and steel rods, broke down a fence inside the prison Tuesday afternoon and overpowered the guards. The inmates then broke into a weapons storage area, taking rifles and shotguns. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) "I was eating with my husband and we heard some noise. We didn't know what it was. Then people started shouting 'get down, get down' because of the children. We didn't see them. We just heard the gunshots that were ringing out." SUPER CAPTION: Voxpop, Witness They used prison employees as shields to avoid being fired on. Two female prison employees who had been taken hostage were freed miles away by the escapees. Relatives of the injured have gathered at the local hospital. Two are in a serious condition. The prison reopened in 1998 after being partially destroyed by leftist Zapatista rebels during their January 1994 uprising to demand greater democracy and Indian rights. The rebels freed 180 inmates from the facility in that attack. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: / ap_archive Facebook: / aparchives Instagram: / apnews You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...
