20 prisoners escape from prison in the biggest jailbreak in the history of Gambia

At least 20 prisoners are on the run in the biggest jailbreak in the history of the Gambia.  

According to reports, the prisoners escaped from Gambia’s second penitentiary on Saturday, triggering a serious manhunt. They escaped from the remand wing of the Jeshwang Prisons, eight miles outside the capital Banjul on Thursday night into Friday morning.  

The commissioner of prisons told the African Press Agency that close to two dozen prisoners are at large as of Saturday. The prison commissioner says at least four prison officers who were on duty at the time of the prisoners’ getaway have been arrested in connection with the incident.

A serious manhunt is currently underway to track and apprehend the prison escapees after what wardens called the biggest prison break in Gambian history. The incident comes over a month after some prisoners escaped from the same penitentiary and are still reportedly at large.  

The adult and juvenile wings of the Jeshwang prisons established in the 1980s accommodate over 200 inmates at a given period, the second after the colonial-era Mile Two Central Prisons located on the outskirts of Banjul.