Over 200 inmates are currently on the run after taking advantage of an earthquake that occurred in the early hours of Tuesday at Malir District Jail in Karachi, the Pakistan police have confirmed.
Thousands of inmates broke down doors and the locks of their cells, shattering windows after they felt the tremors.
The escape occurred during an evacuation due to earthquake tremors, but some inmates overpowered guards, seized weapons, and fled.
One prisoner was killed in the operation, and two prison officers were injured.
As of now, 80 of them have been recaptured while tracing and searches are underway to help find the over 150 who are still at large.
A prison superintendent in an interview with the BBC said that it all started when inmates began shouting from their cells and barracks around midnight, over fears of being crushed by the building when the tremor began.
The frenzy turned violent, necessitating some warning shots from the police.
Many of the inmates were forced into their cells in panic, however, others stormed the main gate in panic, with 216 inmates using the opportunity to escape the prison altogether.
Police are now on door-to-door visits to residences to arrest those who are still on the run.
The Sindh government has, on the other hand, launched a high-level inquiry into security lapses.
This is not the first time a jailbreak has occurred in Pakistan. The previous one before Karachi’s was in 2023, when over 100 prisoners broke out of a high-security facility in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
That incident was reportedly orchestrated by militants, who attacked the prison with explosives and firearms.
The facility in the Malir district is Sindh province’s second-largest prison and is over capacity. While it can accommodate up to 2,200 prisoners, there are at least 5,000 inmates there currently.