10 DETAINESS ESCAPE THROUGH UNREPAIRED SEWER SYSTEM
BY VICKY BAUNKE in Goroka EHP
POLICE have attributed a midnight jailbreak at the Goroka Police Station town cell to structural and maintenance issues, after ten inmates escaped by breaking through an old sewer drainage system beneath the cell floor in the early hours of Monday morning.
Eastern Highlands Provincial Police Commander Chief Superintendent John Kale confirmed to this newsroom that the ten detainees escaped by breaking a damaged sewerage drainage piping system from within the cells and dug their way outside the cell before fleeing the area.
According to police reports, the escapees broke through the cement floor in the last cell block, which was used as a shower and toilet area. The floor had been repaired four years ago but no mesh wire was used to reinforce the cement patch.
Over time, the weak cement was repeatedly stamped on and eventually collapsed. The floor was further weakened by constant exposure to water.
The escapees then dug underground, following a pipe that led outside the juvenile cell door, before fleeing the area.
Kale said this was the second breakout through the same drainage system, following a similar escape four years ago. However, the system was not fully repaired by the contractor engaged at the time.
PPC Kale said the building housing the Goroka town cell was constructed in the 1960s and has received minimal maintenance in recent years.
He said the breakout occurred between 1am and 2am, of the ten detainees who escaped, nine were summary offenders, while one was under a crimminal charge of stealing by false pretence.
Meanwhile, PPC Kale has appealed to the escapees to voluntarily surrender to police and called on anyone harbouring them to hand them over to authorities.
He also reassured the public that security procedures at the police station are being tightened, with internal reviews currently underway to prevent a recurrence.
