Unidentified armed men busted out 132 inmates from a jail compound in a midnight raid that also left one of their guards killed, authorities said.
The detainees escaped amid bursts of gunfire during the attack on the Amas provincial jail, located behind the North Cotabato capitol in Kidapawan City around 1am on Wed, Jan 4.
Jail officer Excell Ray Vicedo died at the hospital after sustaining a gunshot wound during the attack, North Cotabato police director Police Senior Superintendent Emmanuel Peralta said.
One of the escapees was captured along the highway around 2am as police and military checkpoints were set up in neighboring towns of Mlang and Matalam.
In an interview, Police Superintendent Peter Bonggat Jr., of the North Cotabato Jail District said the more than 100 attackers was led by a “Commander Derby,” a member of a breakaway group of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and a former detainee who escaped from the same jail last year.
Bonggat said six inmates involved in the jailbreak were recaptured after trying to take some hostages.
“We were able to recover six accordingly. The six took hostages so we were able to pin down the group,” he said.
The Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) National Headquarters meanwhile said in a statement, there are ongoing operations within the jail vicinity and the surrounding area and there are also ongoing manhunt operations on the escapees. Arianne Apatan, ABS-CBN News
This story first appeared on ABS-CBN News Online and is republished with permission.
