Two prisoners escape

PADANG, West Sumatra: Two prisoners have escaped from Maninjau Prison when warders were generous enough to allow them to make coffee in the prison kitchen one night earlier this week.

Antara reported yesterday that the convicts scaled the penitentiary's 3.5-meter walls after they had managed to divert warders' attention.

Chief of the provincial office of the Ministry of Justice Ali Amran Janah said the authorities had no clue as to the jailbreakers' whereabouts.

The fugitives have been named as Siddik, 51, a farmer serving eight years for rape, and Darlius Djoko, 36, a driver who got four years for eloping.

He said the wanders on duty at the time of the incident would be questioned.

Official statistics show that one of the seven prisoners who escaped from West Sumatran prisons last year is still on the loose. (pan)