Jakarta - About 200 prisoners in Indonesia
broke out of an overcrowded jail on Sumatra island on Friday,
tearing down a gate near a mosque in the prison complex after
being allowed out of their cells to pray, officials said.
Inmates had complained about their treatment in the jail in
Pekanbaru, Riau province, and accused some guards of being
violent, said Ferdinand Siagian, head of the regional office of
the Law Ministry.
"This triggered the incident before Friday prayers,” Siagian
told Metro TV.
Guntur Aryo Tejo, a Riau police spokesman, said 77 inmates
had been recaptured of the approximately 200 who had escaped.
Television footage showed a police officer in black riot gear
holding one man in a headlock.
The jail has a capacity of up to 700 inmates but was housing
about 1,800 prisoners, Tedjo told Metro TV.