Johannesburg - Correctional Services is calling on families, friends and the public to assist in the recapture of the 16 prisoners who escaped from the Johannesburg Prison also known as Sun City on Monday morning.
The department has released the names, pictures, offences and ages of the awaiting trial detainees who escaped from Johannesburg Medium B at about 3am on Monday morning.
The crimes that the fugitives are accused of include rape, murder, armed robbery and housebreaking.
“According to a preliminary investigation, these remand detainees escaped in the morning at approximately 03:00. They escaped through a pipe shaft and used an object to break the wall then proceeded to the fence. A criminal case has been opened with the SAPS,” said Correctional Services spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo.
“The Department of Correctional Services and SAPS have launched a manhunt following an escape of 16 Remand Detainees from Johannesburg Correctional Centre, Medium A,” Nxumalo said.
Members of the public are advised to alert the nearest SAPS should they positively identify any of these fugitives.