Nearly 50 break out of jail using towel rope

Link : http://uk.news.yahoo.com/041010/80/f4aef.html



RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (Reuters) - Nearly 50 prisoners have escaped from a Rio de Janeiro jail using a rope made of sheets and towels in the city's second mass breakout in four days, officials said.


On Thursday, 69 people fled from a police detention centre on the outskirts via a tunnel dug from the jail's courtyard.


This time, 48 prisoners of the Benfica jail in the northern part of Rio made a hole in the ceiling of the cellblock and used a rope to climb the wall of the jail before dawn on Sunday.


A duty official at the state penitentiary secretariat said authorities suspected guards had been paid to turn a blind eye as a turret on the wall was not staffed during the escape. The guards were under arrest.


Corruption is widespread in Brazilian prisons as guards are poorly paid, while powerful drug gangs often use money and intimidation to free their comrades.