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Police Forces in Liberia Halt Prison Escape
New York, Nov 2 2009 6:10PM
Police officers serving with the United Nations peacekeeping force in Liberia have helped foil an attempted mass jail break this weekend from a prison in the West African nation’s capital, Monrovia.
As
many as 50 prisoners tried to escape about 2:20 p.m.
yesterday after one inmate at Monrovia Central Prison stole
a set of keys from a corrections officer and then locked
that officer inside a cell, according to the UN Mission in
Liberia (http://unmil.org/).
Dozens
of detainees moved into the prison yard and tried to scale
the prison’s perimeter wall before they were intercepted
by members of a Jordanian formed police unit (FPU) serving
with UNMIL, as well as Liberian police officers and other
prison staff.
The mission reported that several
warning shots were fired into the air to deter the inmates
and none were able to escape. Those who attempted to escape
have since been relocated to other cells and at least 23
will appear in court over the matter.
UNMIL added that
while 12 Jordanian FPU members, two detainees and one
corrections officer sustained injuries during the escape
attempt, they were
minor.
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