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4 000 break out of prison
10/11/2004 20:05 - (SA)
Abidjan - At least 4 000 of the 5 500 inmates at an Abidjan prison took advantage of work on a new security system and the chaotic situation in the main Ivory Coast city to break out of jail over the weekend, officials said on Wednesday. The prisoners hoisted themselves down through the sewage tunnels stretching from the facility to the nearby Banco national forest, the sources told AFP, in a jailbreak that had nothing to do with the weekend of violence and turmoil that exploded in Abidjan.
The escapees were huddled together in the yard at the Abidjan detention and correction facility (MACA) while work to repair locks and bars broken in a mutiny two weeks ago was ongoing.
The prison guards only noticed on Monday that prisoners were disappearing over the course of the day, slinking their way towards the sewer mouth conveniently located in the prison yard.
Fewer than 1 000 prisoners remained at MACA on Wednesday, among them 99 women, whose cells stayed firmly locked.
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