Rachel
04-05-2005, 08:38 PM
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - Many convicted criminals who fled an Indonesian prison destroyed during an earthquake last week have returned and reported to the warden, police said Monday.
A total of 178 inmates escaped from the main prison on Nias island, where thousands of buildings were damaged or destroyed in the 8.7-magnitude earthquake on March 28, said national police spokesman Col. Zainuri Lubis.
He said about 50 inmates have returned and police are urging the remaining also to give themselves up.
"So far, only 30 percent of them have reported themselves to the prison warden," Lubis said. "Therefore, we now call on the others to immediately notify the authorities about their whereabouts," he told The Associated Press.
He did not say where the 50-odd prisoners were being housed at the moment since the prison was destroyed.
More than 600 people were killed in the undersea earthquake off Nias, which is near Sumatra island.
A total of 178 inmates escaped from the main prison on Nias island, where thousands of buildings were damaged or destroyed in the 8.7-magnitude earthquake on March 28, said national police spokesman Col. Zainuri Lubis.
He said about 50 inmates have returned and police are urging the remaining also to give themselves up.
"So far, only 30 percent of them have reported themselves to the prison warden," Lubis said. "Therefore, we now call on the others to immediately notify the authorities about their whereabouts," he told The Associated Press.
He did not say where the 50-odd prisoners were being housed at the moment since the prison was destroyed.
More than 600 people were killed in the undersea earthquake off Nias, which is near Sumatra island.