A total of 18 high risk inmates, which includes 3 convicts and 15 remandees are now at large after breaking out of Bomana CS Facility this afternoon.
Correctional Services Commissioner Stephen Pokanis told this newsroom that out of the three convicted inmates, one is on death row while the other two are serving life sentences.
Commissioner Pokanis says the 15 remandees including the three are all high-risk prisoners.
The incident took place as the jail officers and other inmates were preparing for an occasion to the mark the Repentance Day public holiday today.
“They did not all escape at once but at random intervals after cutting the fence with a bolt cutter they managed to have taken,” Mr Pokanis said.
Pokanis is now appealing to the public as well as friends and relatives of those escapees to enable them to surrender.
Meanwhile Police and CS operations are undergoing a search at this time around the Bomana and nearby areas for the escapees.
The NCD/ Central Police Command has issued a notice out to the general public travelling along the Hiritano Highway, Bomana and Sogeri Road to be on alert.
Police have also advised the public to call 1800 100 if they notice any suspicious persons around these areas at this time.