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Escape bid behind prison deaths
08/11/2004 14:44 - (SA)
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| Members of the police dog unit arrives at C-Max prison in Pretoria where four people were killed in a hostage drama. (Beeld) |
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Pretoria - A thwarted escape attempt by three inmates appears to have been behind the deaths of two officials and two prisoners at Pretoria's C-Max jail on Sunday, the correctional services department said on Monday.
"Preliminary investigations seem to implicate three prisoners. It appears they shot themselves when they realised their plan was not going to work," said departmental spokesperson Bheki Manzini.
Two of the three were among those killed. But Manzini could not immediately provide details on the condition or whereabouts of the third inmate.
Initial reports indicated that a prisoner had obtained a firearm and used it to kill another inmate, prison head Sam Gomba and a warder before turning the gun on himself.
The names of the two dead inmates would be released once their next-of-kin had been informed - probably by the day's end.
One officer died in hospital, and the other three men inside the prison.
Exactly what happened remained unclear on Monday, with Manzini saying details would only emerge as the investigation proceeded.
He could not say how the firearm/s used had been obtained.
Police and a special departmental investigation team were putting the pieces together on Monday morning, as management addressed staff on the aftermath.
Manzini said staff were receiving individual counselling.
He confirmed that two men in civilian clothes, apprehended in the prison's parking area on Sunday afternoon, were being questioned by police.
The extent of their alleged involvement, however, was unclear.
C-Max is a maximum security facility designed specifically to hold violent and disruptive prisoners classified as dangerous. Its residents include apartheid-era murderer Eugene de Kock, serial killer and rapist Moses Sithole, and the alleged rightwingers charged with plotting to overthrow the government in the Boeremag treason trial.
According to unconfirmed accounts of Sunday's events, a visitor managed to smuggle a firearm into the prison in the morning.
SA Prisoners Organisation for Human Rights (Sapohr) president Golden Miles Bhudu, who was visiting friends and members in the facility, said a public announcement was made shortly before 10am that a hostage situation was under way.
An hour later, he said, he overheard a warder telling someone that a woman visitor had smuggled a firearm into C-Max and handed it to a prisoner. There was some shooting, and two warders were apparently held hostage, Bhudu said he heard.
But Manzini would not be drawn into what he termed mere speculation.
"We invite those people who claim to have information on what happened to get in contact with the investigating team," he said on Monday.
Manzini stressed: "As much as there was a security breach... there were no escapes."
There have been no escapes from C-Max since its establishment, he added.
Correctional Services Minister Ngconde Balfour was due to meet family members of the deceased and visit the institution - probably on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the department received a hoax call earlier on Monday about another hostage drama.
"We investigated, and there was no such thing," Manzini said.
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