Jailbreak pair nabbed on way to SA border

POLICE have arrested two inmates who escaped from Bulawayo Prison, along the Bulawayo-Beitbridge highway on their way to the South African border.

The police apprehended the duo on Sunday, barely 24 hours after their escape.

Peace Mapfumo and Lloyd Hurukuru, whose ages were not disclosed, dashed to freedom while working at the prison's car wash on Saturday evening.

A source told The Chronicle that the two were apprehended on Sunday afternoon at around 2pm on their way to South Africa through the Beitbridge Border Post.

"After they escaped they went to one of their homes and they burnt the prison clothes. They put on new clothes but were arrested on their way to South Africa," said the source.

The Provincial Public Relations Officer for Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services for Bulawayo Metropolitan Province, Mr Garainashe Moyo confirmed the incident yesterday.

"We can confirm that two inmates who had escaped from Bulawayo Prison on April 14 were apprehended by the police on the following day. Mapfumo was serving a sentence of six months for assault while Hurukuru was serving 21 months for unlawful entry and theft," he said

"The two were part of a group that was washing cars and they connived to take to their heels last Saturday at around 6pm."

Mr Moyo said prison officers with the assistance of the police tracked down the escapees and caught them at Makado roadblock along the Bulawayo-Beitbridge highway on the following day.

"They will soon appear in court facing charges of escaping from lawful custody," he said.

Last month John Ncube from Lupane who was serving a jail term for assaulting his father allegedly escaped from prison after missing out on the Presidential amnesty.

President Mnangagwa last month pardoned thousands of prisoners as part of measures to decongest the prisons whose population had ballooned to about 20 000.