200 prisoners escape from Brazilian jail

Nearly 200 prisoners staged a breakout from a Brazilian prison on Thursday after staging a riot and destroying a fence.

The state news service announced that around 200 prisoners had escaped from the Jardinopolis prison, northwest of Sao Paulo, in the early morning, Xinhua reported.

Later, Brazil's G1 news portal said about 100 had been recaptured.

Released photos showed one prisoner running in a field and others being stopped by authorities.

The riot began at the morning check-up, with prisoners burning mattresses and rushing the fence. Once the fence broke, the prisoners escaped down a four-meter slope and across a road.

The military police said in a statement that a broad recapture operation immediately begun, adding that around 100 were captured. These were then taken to a different prison in the nearby town of Ribeirao Preto.

According to G1, the Jardinopolis prison has a capacity for 1,080 prisoners but currently holds 1,864 inmates.

--IANS

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