A large group of prisoners broke out of Baabda Prison in Mount Lebanon on Saturday morning, the National News Agency reported.
The prisoners “smashed doors” and escaped their prison cells in the early hours of Saturday, reportedly attacked a prison guard on the way, before fleeing to an unidentified location.
Pursued by security forces, some of the prisoners, who had stolen a car to escape, crashed into a tree. The crash killed 5 of them and severely injured at least one more. Local media reported that between 50 and 60 prisoners escaped in total.
Security forces had set up a perimeter around Baabda Justice Palace and the surrounding area.
Meanwhile, the Internal Security Forces’ Information Branch was able to arrest a number of the escaping prisoners, and an investigation into the incident has commenced while the search for the remaining prisoners continues.
