Pakistan jailbreak: Over 200 prisoners flee during earthquake evacuation in Karachi

A routine safety measure after earthquake tremors turned into a major security breach in Karachi, as over 100 inmates escaped from prison on Tuesday.

Officials said the prisoners had been evacuated from their cells as a precaution following a series of mild earthquakes in the area, but chaos erupted when a group of inmates attacked guards, seized their weapons, and managed to flee.

According to senior police official Kashif Abbasi, 216 inmates escaped from Malir prison before dawn. He confirmed that 78 of them had already been caught.

Police teams were carrying out raids to find the rest. “No one convicted or facing trial as a militant is among those who fled,” Abbasi said.

The escape led to a shootout in which one inmate was killed and three security personnel were injured. “The situation has been brought under control,” Abbasi added.
How the jailbreak unfolded

Sindh’s home minister, Ziaul Hassan , explained how the jailbreak unfolded. The inmates had been moved out of their cells due to tremors. While they were still outside, some prisoners attacked the guards and fled the premises after opening fire.

Prison Superintendent Arshad Shah said the escapees headed towards nearby residential areas. Residents reported that police later used mosque loudspeakers to warn them about the escaped inmates and requested help in identifying and reporting them.

Sindh chief minister Murad Ali Shah made a televised appeal, urging the escapees to turn themselves in. “They had only been involved in minor crimes until that point,” he said. “But they could face terror charges if they are arrested by police on the jailbreak charge.”

Although prison escapes have happened during court transfers in Pakistan, such mass breakouts from within prison walls remain rare.

Karachi has experienced multiple earthquakes in the past 24 hours, with magnitudes ranging from 2.6 to 3.4, according to the National Seismic Monitoring Center.