In a statement by the South African Department of Correctional Services, officials confirmed that 69 inmates escaped the Malmesbury Prison of the Western Cape province during a jailbreak, and while 61 have been re-captured, a manhunt has been initiated to re-capture the remaining 8 escapees. Local media sources say that there were under 2 dozen prison officers on duty at a facility holding 451 inmates when the jailbreak happened. While 9 prison officers were injured, none were seriously injured or killed.

The Department of Correctional Services stated that the prisoners "overpowered officials during exercise" and "took the keys" before the "locked 3 officials in a cell and opened other cells".   

Note: All images in this article were retrieved from the public domain and do not require attribution or citation for commercial use.