33 break out of Venezuelan jail

Caracas, Jan 1 (IANS/EFE) Thirty-three suspects in custody at a police station in the capital municipality of Chacao escaped through a hole in the wall, Venezuelan authorities said Wednesday.

Guards noticed the hole around 2:00 a.m. and soon realised that 33 people had fled, deputy municipal police chief Rubel Vasquez told Globovision news.

Several of the escapees were people arrested on suspicion of offenses such as kidnapping, robbery and homicide, he said.

"It is truly quite a dangerous group," Vasquez said.

Police have recaptured five of the escapees and an investigation into the escape, Chacao Mayor Ramon Muchacho said.

"All the custodial personnel were placed at the disposition of the prosecutor's office and we immediately opened an investigation to determine responsibility" for the escape, the mayor wrote on Twitter.

On Nov 26, 41 detainees left a jail in the central state of Miranda via a hole in the wall.