47 inmates escape from a prison in Liberia

Dozens of inmates escaped from a maximum safety prison initiate air Liberia’s capital over the weekend, authorities said Monday.

The 47 inmates have been able to escape because of a breach in the prison safety machine, the Justice Ministry said in a statement. The prison is in Kakata, a metropolis 55 kilometres (34 miles) northeast of the capital, Monrovia.

The ministry said that it was “deeply involved about this incident and is taking all necessary measures to make determined that the recapture of the escaped inmates.”

The country’s national police have also deployed additional officers to assist in the search for the fugitives, the ministry said.

Prisons in Liberia are incessantly severely overcrowded, and inmates lack access to ample food and basic medical care. Last year, a prison in Monrovia ran out of food, and two assorted prisons hastily stopped taking inmates because of food shortages.

A large quantity of inmates are also detained without a trial. In November 2022, a U.N. represent came upon that 73% of the nationwide prison population have been pretrial detainees.

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