/ 28 December 1999

PRISONERS HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS

NINETEEN awaiting-trial prisoners escaped from three police holding cells in the Eastern Cape on Christmas Day, police said on Monday. Inspector Maphelo Ngame said 14 people escaped from Lusikisiki after they sawed off the iron bars on their cell door on Christmas night. The men had been charged with crimes ranging from murder to fraud. Earlier in the day four men escaped from Engcobo police cells after sawing off iron bars on the roof. One of the escapees was rearrested.