The 68 inmates who escaped from a jail in South Africa’s Western Cape on Friday were arrested again, the government says.
Prison officials were praised for “restoring stability” after a two-day manhunt.
The leak occurred after Malmesbury prison inmates “overpowered” staff during an exercise session.
They then locked three officers in a cell before releasing other prisoners and escaping through a roof, authorities said.
Previous reports said they had escaped while being transferred to court for trial.
South Africa’s prison corps had originally said 69 inmates escaped, but the justice department said Sunday there were 68 in total.
According to local news site EWN, the reason for this confusion was that an inmate who was supposed to have escaped was, in fact, “moved to a different cell during the chaos and never left the premises.”
Part of the leak was captured on camera by a member of the public who was sitting in his car.
As a step?
Only 20 prison officials were on duty to supervise the 451 inmates at the facility, a statement from the South African Correctional Service said Friday.
“The fugitives overpowered the officials, took the keys and locked three officers in one cell and opened other cells before escaping through the main entrance and onto the roof,” he added.
Nine prison officials “suffered minor injuries and contusions” during the incident.
South African Justice Minister Ronald Lamola thanked people in the local community for providing “critical information” that led to the arrests.
Local news site News24 quoted him as saying that the fugitives would be punished for their actions.
