UPDATE - Over 200 prisoners escape Pakistan jail after earthquake damages walls

UPDATES WITH CHIEF MINISTER’S STATEMENT, CHANGES LEDE, DECK

By Islamuddin Sajid

ISLAMABAD (AA) - Over 200 prisoners escaped from a jail in the southern port city of Karachi after an earthquake damaged the prison walls, the provincial chief minister said on Tuesday.

The incident occurred late Monday night when prisoners escaped through a damaged wall in Malir prison, which was affected by multiple low-intensity tremors in the area since Sunday, southern Sindh province Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah said.

"The prisoners were brought out of the barracks due to aftershocks, which was wrong," Shah told reporters in Karachi, adding that the prisoners also snatched rifles from the prison security personnel, and during the firing, one prisoner was killed. Some policemen were also injured, he said.

He added that around 216 prisoners fled, while 80 to 82 have been recaptured so far.

Calling the incident "alarming," he said: "There are over 6,000 prisoners in Malir jail, and the jail administration brought them out of barracks, and some of them fled in a mob."

He warned that all prisoners who escaped should immediately surrender, otherwise they would face cases under anti-terrorism law.