PHNOM PENH, June 20 (Xinhua) -- Five dangerous inmates escaped from the Kampong Speu provincial prison in southwestern Cambodia early Tuesday, the National Police website reported, citing a local police chief.
Sam Samoun, police chief of Kampong Speu province, said the five men were spending their prison terms for premeditated murder, robbery, and drug trafficking.
"Currently, the authorities are searching for them," he was quoted as saying by the website.
Kak Savun, director of the Kampong Speu provincial prison, said the five prisoners had been sent to the prison's health center for medical treatment, and they escaped by cutting a hole in the roof of the health center at about 2:00 a.m. local time on Tuesday.
It was the second jailbreak in Cambodia within four weeks. On May 27, five inmates broke loose from the Ratanakiri provincial prison in northeastern Cambodia after they used a blade to cut the bars of their prison cell. One of them was recaptured hours after the escape, as the remaining four are still at large.
