Society
Police launch door-to-door search for escaped convicts
(China Daily)
Updated: 2010-02-25 07:46
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Police have launched a manhunt for two convicts who escaped from a prison near Harbin, capital of Northeast China's Heilongjiang province, local officials said yesterday.
The prisoners escaped from the Liming Prison, situated on the outskirts of the city, on Tuesday morning, police said.
However, it is still unclear how they managed to escape, as prison authorities declined to speak to the media yesterday, saying they were "not in a position to answer any questions".
The news caused panic among residents who live near the prison, police said.
Internet users in Harbin wrote online that there was a heavy presence of police personnel in areas near the prison and they were not letting any vehicles pass without a thorough check.
Dozens of policemen, each of them armed with guns, were deployed along a road leading up to the prison. They have set up two checkpoints where all pedestrians are required to stop for their identities to be verified.
A police officer has also been assigned to guard a drug store about 50 m from the prison. "I am here to assist in the investigation," he said.
Residents of a community, about 500 m from the prison, said police had come looking for two prisoners yesterday, and searched each and every house in the area.
"They told us to keep our doors and windows shut and not to let any strangers in," said a resident, who did not give his name. "They (the police) also left some phone numbers behind, asking us to contact them if we see anyone suspicious."
Several questions were raised on security in Chinese prisons after four prisoners killed a guard and escaped from jail in the northern Inner Mongolia autonomous region in October last year.
A month later, another prisoner broke free from a prison in Hunan province.
According to a report in the Legal Daily, the number of escapees from the country's prisons fell 85.6 percent in the first half of 2009, compared to the same period the previous year.
China Daily-Xinhua
