At least 216 inmates escaped from the prison of the Karachi district on Monday night after the earthquake tremors triggered a temporary evacuation of prisoners of their barracks, confirmed the superintendent of the Arshad Shah prison early on Tuesday.
Shah told reporters that inmates took advantage of chaotic evacuation to flee the facilities.
The incident caused an emergency response, with the police, the rangers and the forces of the border body (FC) deployed inside and around the jail to recover control and avoid more escapes.
Sindh IG Ghulam Nabi Memon confirmed in an interview that 78 escapes have been recaptured, and a massive search operation is currently in progress to locate the remaining fugitives.
Since then, the entire prison complex has been insured, with Rangers assuming external security and the reinforced police inside.
The authorities have completed a complete internal search for the prison, and the authorities confirmed that the situation is now under control.
There was a Jailbreak in the Malir prison on Tuesday morning, when the inmates crossed the prison wall and tried to flee, which caused a quick and strong response of the agencies of application of the law.
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The prison staff is currently verifying inmate counts and categorizing the escapes.
Read: The earthquake of light shakes Karachi; No damage is reported
According to the DIG HASSAN SAHITO prisons, around 6,000 prisoners were present in the installation when the tremors hit.
“Panic spread rapidly among the inmates. Some began to break locks and try to flee from multiple points,” he told private news channels.
Sahito also mentioned that several of those who escaped were usual drug criminals.
The Interior Minister of Sindh, Zia-Ul-Haha Lanjar, speaking with the media outside the prison in a televised informative session, confirmed the Jailbreak and said that an official escape charge is ongoing.
“It has not yet been determined if the break occurred due to a wall violation or simply to the locks that are broken,” he said, added that a complete investigation is being carried out to identify the causes and those responsible.
Rescue teams reported that three FC people suffered serious stampede injuries that followed chaos, while several others were injured and treated in a private hospital.
Large -scale manhunt launched
In response to the escape, both lanes of the National Highway near the prison were closed, and a large -scale human hunt was launched in neighboring areas such as the city of Gaddafi, the city of Shah Latif and the Bhains neighborhood.
With the rangers, the Special Security Unit (SSU), the Special Response Force (SRF) and the Local Police participating in the operation, the authorities have secured the prison complex, and the officials confirmed that the internal situation is now under control.
A complete verification and verification process is being carried out to identify all who escaped.
The researchers continue to evaluate whether recent earthquakes contributed directly to the Jailbreak.
With the concerns raised about the structural integrity of the installation after the tremors, the prison authorities are evaluating the site to obtain more risks.
Earthquake tremors
Karachi experienced 9 to 11 tremors in the last 48 hours, with the strongest registering 3.6 magnitude. The most recent earthquake was recorded at 11:16 pm, shortly before the incident.
News sources have linked Jailbreak with structural vulnerabilities caused by seismic activity.
Experts linked the tremors with underground tectonic movements and the release of seismic energy.
The epicenters of the earthquakes concentrated in Malir, Quaidabad and Dha.
Fearing more earthquakes, many Malir residents and surrounding areas installed tents in open spaces and avoided sleeping inside.
Women in the affected neighborhoods spent much of Monday involved in Koranic recitation for spiritual protection.
Read: The inmates escape from Malir de Karachi prison after breaking the wall
Previously, the authorities confirmed that 20 of the escaped inmates were recaptured, while the efforts to locate and stop others continued.
The area surrounding the prison has been cordoned off as part of an intensified hunt.
According to the initial reports, the shots exploded in the vicinity of the prison after the escape attempt.
Police forces, aided by other units of application of the law, quickly mobilized and launched a large -scale search operation to stop the fugitives.
Police have urged citizens to avoid the area and inform any suspicious activity immediately.
Formal investigation on security violation is expected once the situation is put under control.
