13 inmates escape from recently fortified prison in Guyana

GEORGETOWN, Guyana – Thirteen inmates have escaped from a recently fortified prison in the South American country of Guyana just weeks after an earlier jailbreak.

Senior Police Superintendent Wendell Blanhum said the inmates fled overnight Sunday from the Lusignan Prison along the country’s east coast. It is a minimum security facility, but it was fortified after authorities transferred hundreds of inmates there from a maximum security prison that was set on fire.

Guyana has struggled with prison security in recent years.

The breakout occurred two weeks after six other inmates with smuggled handguns shot their way out of that prison, killing a guard and injuring several others.

Seventeen inmates died last year when they were trapped in their cells by a fire they started to protest prison conditions and lengthy trial delays.