Iran says 54 inmates at large after jail break

TEHRAN: Iranian security forces are searching for 54 escaped inmates following a prison break over which four guards were arrested, Iran´s state news agency reported on Sunday.

“Some prison guards were summoned and four of them were arrested and others released on bail,” Mojtaba Shirouzbozorgi, a judicial official in Kurdistan province, told IRNA. According to the agency, 74 inmates escaped from Saqqez city´s prison on Friday, 20 of whom have so far either turned themselves in or been captured.

On March 19, 23 prisoners escaped from another jail in the western city of Khorramabad, the capital of Lorestan province, hours before the start of Iran´s New Year celebrations, IRNA said.

They reportedly escaped during the night while guards were making preparations for a New Year amnesty. The escapees had been serving a maximum of one-year sentences, the agency said, denying that dangerous criminals were at large. There were also prison riots in Hamedan and Tabriz provinces, and Aligoudarz city in Lorestan as authorities prevented escapes.