/ 15 April 1999

KEYSTONE COPS IN SKUKUZA

FOUR illegal Mozambican immigrants who escaped from Skukuza police cells in the Kruger National Park this week were still at large on Thursday, bringing the total of escaped prisoners in the province since January to 151, with only 42 rearrested. Sergeant Thabisile Gama said the men escaped at 6pm on Tuesday, as police prepared to lock them up for the night. The men, found crossing the park, were being taken to the cells pending deportation back to Mozambique. Two policemen escorted them to the cells, but one stopped to answer a telephone in the charge office. The prisoners tripped up the remaining policeman and escaped through the unlocked cell doors into the park as night fell.