34 escape after prisoners set ablaze Aceh jail

JAKARTA (AFP): Thirty-four prisoners escaped from a jail in the troubled province of Aceh after inmates set the building on fire, but 12 were later recaptured, police said on Thursday.

Head of the Banda Aceh Police precinct Lt. Col. Dedi Suryadi told AFP that the inmates broke out late Wednesday around 7 p.m., after starting the fire near the front of the Keudah Penitentiary gates.

"We are still trying to confirm what happened, but among the prisoners were two Free Aceh Movement members who encouraged the others to revolt," Dedi was quoted as saying from the provincial capital.

More than 100 prisoners overpowered the guards when the fire brigade came to put out the fire, which had spread rapidly to other parts of the jail.

"The first of the six men recaptured were taken to the city's district prison. The other six were taken to the city's provincial prison," Dedi said.

He added that the fire had damaged over 90 percent of the prison.

Police later evacuated the remaining 139 inmates to Lhoknga Penitentiary in Aceh Besar district, some 16 kilometers from Banda Aceh.

Two of the escapees were caught heading west out of town in a taxi.

"Police immediately knew they were among the missing convicts, because they were soaking wet from the fire hoses," Dedi said.

He said the two separatist inmates were believed to have seized five of the prison guards' rifles.

"It's possible that they took the guards' rifles. Five were noted missing."

Insufficient guards in Aceh prisons have been blamed for at least four jailbreaks there this year.

Violence has been on the rise in the province this year. At least 100 people, including 41 civilians, have been killed, and about 400 houses, school buildings and government offices set on fire in attacks and counterattacks between the military and alleged separatist members since May.