700 inmates flee jails amid tsunami

JAKARTA: More than 700 out of 1,900 inmates fled prisons that were destroyed or damaged by last week's devastating tsunami in Aceh, the government said on Monday.

"But as many as 100 inmates have surrendered. We don't know the fate of the others," said Mardjaman, penitentiary director general at the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights.

He said the 700 prisoners had fled several prisons in Banda Aceh, Lhok Nga, Meulaboh, Sigli and Calang.

The government has promised to reduce the sentences of inmates who surrender, as they fled the prisons to survive the Dec. 26 calamity that devastated Aceh and North Sumatra. --Antara