Eleven trail-awaiting prisoners carried out a daring midnight jailbreak at the Katima Mulilo Police station.
Three of the escapees have been re-arrested so far, while the police in the Zambezi Region have launched a manhunt for the rest.
Details of the escape emerged late today when police officials revealed that the group escaped after cutting an opening in the roof of the cell, through which they made their way out around one o'clock on Monday morning.
Police spokesperson in the region, Inspector Kisco Sitali, has warned that the escapees are awaiting trial for serious crimes, while one of them is a notorious repeat offender.
"They are very dangerous, as one of them is the famous Nine Masule, who is one of the ex-convicts for house break-ins, robberies, and murder. He already served his sentence, and he was released early last year. He was arrested this year after he was involved in several house break-in cases within Katima Mulilo."
Pieces of blades and ropes made out of blankets—the tools suspected to have been used in the jailbreak—were found in the cell from which the prisoners escaped.
"We are still investigating how the tools found themselves in the cells; our investigators are still finding out, but currently I cannot confirm the modalities of how the objects found themselves in the cells, but I can confirm that it appears like a blade, something that is sharp and can be used to cut the irons on top of the roof that is used as ventilation to give sunlight to the inmates inside the cell, so they cut into that opening and then they went out."
It is alleged that more than 100 trial-awaiting prisoners were housed in the cell from which the 11 escaped. The cell is meant to accommodate only 16 people.
Inspector Sitali says it was difficult for officers to timely notice the incident due to renovations being done at the police station.
"Our police station is currently under renovation, so our members are currently working outside the building in a tent; they are operating in a tent, so it's very far from the cell building, and I'm not saying that maybe officers were not vigilant, but we must also be aware that we are also facing some challenges as the renovations are taking place. We also have challenges of darkness within the surrounding cells, but that one is not an excuse, and we are investigating how these suspects were not handled by those who were guarding the cells or those who were on duty."
Residents in Katima Mulilo and surrounding areas are advised to be cautious and report any suspicious activities or groups of people to the nearest police post and station commander.