EL SALVADOR: 130 prisoners escape when rebels attack prison in San Salvador

Record ID: 352699

  • Title: EL SALVADOR: 130 prisoners escape when rebels attack prison in San Salvador
  • Date: 19th June 1991
  • Summary: PRISONERS MILLING ABOUT IN JAIL YARD, AMBULANCE DRIVING AWAY AS VICTIM'S RELATIVE WEEPS PRISON PERIMETER WALL, SOLDIER PATROLLING AREA NEAR BARRICADED ROAD ENTRANCE UNIDENTIFIED ARMY CORPORAL SPEAKING (SPANISH) ABOUT REBEL NIGHT-TIME ATTACK, SOLDIER NEAR PERIMETER WALL PRISONERS JUMPING AND SHOUTING IN JAIL YARD SOLDIER GUARDING WALL AS INMATES SPEAK (SPANISH) THROUGH H
  • Embargoed: 4th July 1991 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: NEAR SAN SALVADOR, EL SALVADOR
  • Country: El Salvador
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,War / Fighting
  • Reuters ID: LVADIX8613MJ2GSJPXKANP13HTHN
  • Story Text: At least 130 prisoners escaped from a maximum security jail near San Salvador during Monday night and Tuesday morning (June 17 - 18) when leftist guerrillas mounted a three-hour attack on the facility.
    Justice Ministry officials confirmed that 15 men - including nine inmates - died when Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) militants blew holes in the perimeter wall with dynamite and rocket-propelled grenades, allowing the convicts to flee.
    Government troops surrounding the prison returned fire, and police later said four rebels and two soldiers were killed in the gun battle outside the prison.
    The raid took place as government and rebel representatives met in Mexico for United Nations (UN)-brokered peace talks aimed at agreeing a ceasefire in the 11-year civil war.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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