TWO male inmates at Krabi prison serving sentences for drug trafficking offenses escaped before dawn today (Sept. 30) with a big manhunt now underway at this popular southern coastal province, Thai Rath newspaper reported.
Pol. Lt. Col. Boonsong Longwaree, chief investigator of Mueang Krabi police station, rushed to the prison upon being notified of the jailbreak at 9 a.m. together with the station chief Pol. Col. Phitsanu Phuangprom and other officers.
There they found out that the two prisoners, Mr. Anon Denmat, 32, from Trang province, and Mr. Khan Saman, 47, a local resident, had escaped while still shackled.
Guards said the prison break took place from 3 a.m. to 6 a.m. with an early morning check revealing their absence from the dormitory.
Further examination showed that the two inmates had sawed off a bar at the window and then climbed out. After that they cut the barbed wires around the dormitory, and once getting across, used three tied blankets to scale the high prison wall and ran away, leaving the blanket rope slung on the wall.
Police are checking surveillance camera clips to track their escape route and also the bus station as the escapees are likely to try to leave the province.
A search of a radius of 500 metres has been mounted to find their chains with prison records too checked for their visitors over the past two weeks.
Records show that Anon, who had already been arrested on drug trafficking charges a few times, was again caught for the same offense on May 14 this year. Khan had been arrested on drug trafficking charges by Krabi’s Plai Phraya police station team.
CAPTIONS:
Top: The two inmates who escaped before dawn today.
Below: A discussion of the jailbreak in the prison compound this morning. Photos: Thai Rath
