Official says no inmates escaped

Official says no inmates escaped

PADANG, West Sumatra: Head of the provincial office of the
Ministry of Justice, Soemoeljo, denied reports that 20 prisoners
escaped when the Muaro Penitentiary here was set on fire on
Wednesday.

"No one escaped. Media reports that there are 20 fugitives are
wrong ... one of the officials here made a mistake in his
announcement," Soemoeljo said on Thursday.

Padang Police chief Lt. Col. Suhardi Sigit supported
Soemoeljo's remark.

"Everybody panicked during the fire. Only later on we counted
all of the prisoners and they are all here," Suhardi said of the
facility, which houses 263 inmates.

Police have detained 10 inmates allegedly involved in the
arson that has been described as a jailbreak attempt.

Separately in Ujungpandang, South Sulawesi, police are still
searching for 53 convicts who escaped after some of them set fire
to the Gunung Sari penitentiary and detention center on Tuesday.

"I regret the incident," said Tahir Abdullah, director general
of penitentiaries and detention centers. (27/28/edt)