19 Jan 2005

Sixty PNG inmates break out from Bomana Prison

3:32 pm on 19 January 2005

Police in Papua New Guinea say hardcore convicts are among sixty inmates who escaped from a prison near Port Moresby

Police and correctional services officers have launched a search using a police helicopter.

The newspaper, The National, says it is believed that they had used a bolt-cutter to get past the fence at Bomana prison.

36 of the escapees were serving sentences for various offences while some 30 others were under remand.

The National reports the escape was believed to the biggest in the last three years.