Three recaptured after escape from Bellavista prison in Santo Domingo
Three of six inmates who escaped from Bellavista detention centre have been recaptured; four custody police officers face preventive detention.
Recapture and operations following the Bellavista escape
Three of the six inmates who escaped from Bellavista prison in Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas were recaptured before the morning of 14 October, according to expreso.ec. Authorities are maintaining active operations to locate the three remaining fugitives.
Interior Minister John Reimberg confirmed the capture of the third inmate, identified as José Cevallos Zambrano. The three detainees will be transferred to El Encuentro prison in Santa Elena province.
On the evening of 13 October, John Moisés Chalco Zambrano and Serafín Sigifredo Vera Silva had already been recaptured, located in the Otongo Mapalí sector following a public alert. Police units deployed to track the fugitives took part in the operation.
How the escape occurred
The six inmates escaped two days earlier from the prison's maximum security area. According to police information, they opened a hole in a wall and descended to the rear of the facility using hammocks made from cloth.
Among those who fled are individuals charged or convicted of crimes including rape, murder, theft and drug trafficking, according to data provided by the police.
Four officers face preventive detention
The investigation is not limited to the inmates. A police source confirmed that four officers who were carrying out custody duties in the maximum security area were charged and received preventive detention whilst investigations continue into possible responsibilities for the incident.
Following the escape, patrols were reinforced in the East, West and La Concordia districts of Santo Domingo, as well as in the surroundings of Bellavista prison. A rewards scheme remains active for anyone providing information that allows the three remaining fugitives to be located.
Context of prison security concerns
The incident has revived questions about surveillance conditions in the country's social rehabilitation centres, particularly in high-security areas. The escape in Santo Domingo occurred less than a month after two inmates escaped from Turi prison in Cuenca, where the inmates apparently destroyed the bars of a window and used a rope improvised from bedsheets to escape.
Source: Google News DO — Santo Domingo