40 inmates escaped: Officer

ONLY 40 inmates, not 77, escaped from Buimo Prison last Friday and nearly half of them were killed, says Correctional Services Acting Commissioner Dennis Piandi.
He said that the report released last week which said that 77 inmates escaped was done before the number of court cases had been reconciled.
“Now that we have reconciled the court cases and looked through the records, only 40 inmates escaped from the Buimo Prison,” Piandi said.
“Seventeen were shot dead, and three were recaptured while 17 are still on the run.”
Piandi said that there were only four officers guarding the compound when the prisoners broke out.  He said they fired shots into the air thinking that prisoners would stop.
“They gave warning shots into the air, thinking that the prisoners would get scared and stop running but they continued running.
“So the officers opened fire.”
He said it was basically a containment strategy with the officers trying to prevent the prisoners from escaping.
“They opened fire hoping to wound or injure them so that they can be caught but instead all 17 died.  It was a mass of human bodies running together at the same time, so unfortunately all 17 died.”
Piandi said that Correctional Services has not talked about the shooting yet because the commissioner was out of the country.
“Once he returns this Saturday, we will talk and discuss if the shooting should be investigated.
“But the officers were doing their jobs and they were outnumbered and opened fire as a last resort to stop the prisoners from escaping.”