5 inmates flee prison in Haiti; 2 recaptured

Five inmates escaped from a prison in Haiti early on Saturday, the country’s second jail breakout reported in less than two months.

Police director Antoine Monest said two of the inmates who got out of the prison in the northern city of Cap-Haitien had been recaptured. He said one of them was shot by guards and hospitalized, while the other was found in a water tank.

Among the inmates still at large was a man sentenced to life for murder and another sentenced to life for kidnapping.

Mr. Monest said someone apparently smuggled in a saw that the prisoners used to break free around 2 a.m. He says a guard is being investigated.

Soldiers with the U.N. peacekeeping mission have helped strengthen security at the prison, Mr. Monest said.

“We are taking measures so this doesn’t happen again,” he said.

The breakout comes after 329 inmates escaped from a prison in Croix-des-Bouquets at the northern edge of Haiti’s capital August 10. Only about 80 of those inmates have been caught. Some of those recaptured were found in the neighbouring Dominican Republic and at least three were in the Bahamas.