Eighteen inmates escape from POK

Security forces at the prison, following the incident. Pic/AFP

Eighteen inmates, including some on death row, have escaped from a prison in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir after overpowering a guard with a pistol, Pakistani officials said on Monday.

Local police chief Riaz Mughal said one of the prisoners was shot and killed in the breakout from Rawalakot prison the previous day.

A massive search has been launched to trace and arrest all those inmates who fled the prison, Mughal said, authorities opened an investigation into what lead up to the prison break. The prison's chief and some other officers have already been dismissed from their post while some officials had been arrested.

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