Police recapture 6 of 16 inmates who bolted Cotabato jail

COTABATO CITY , Philippines  – Pursuing policemen recaptured six of the 16 high-security inmates that bolted Jan. 20 from the city jail here.

The city’s outgoing jail warden, Senior Inspector Buenventura Pedrita, said they are also expecting the surrender of another escapee anytime soon.

Pedrita, who was relieved of his post a day after the jailbreak, is to turn over his post today to incoming jail warden Chief Inspector Branden Fulgencio.

Pedrita said one of the inmates who escaped from the city jail, Ranier Camarudin, was reported to have died of cardiac arrest while on the run .

The six recaptured inmates were cornered in separate operations in Barangay Bagua here, in Gen. Santos City and in Sultan Kudarat town in Maguindanao.

Cotabato City Mayor Japal Guiani Jr., chairman of the city peace and order council, said all of the 37 barangay chairmen here are now scouring their respective barangays in search of the inmates that remain scot-free.

The inmates used hacksaws to cut the iron grills of a window overlooking the Rio Grande de Mindanao and used blankets to lower themselves into the waterway where they swam to their freedom.