LI MENGJUN, an inmate who escaped from Beijiang Prison of Shaoguan City in Guangdong Province on Saturday, was captured near the prison yesterday afternoon, according to a post made on CCTV’s Sina Weibo account.

    Chen Dachao, deputy head with the provincial prison management bureau, said two inmates at the jail left the workshop through a fire engine access point, broke through a locked door while others were working and climbed over several walls to escape at around 8:40 a.m.

    Wu Changgui, one of the inmates, was shocked while trying to climb an electric fence and fell within the prison grounds, where he was recaptured, while Li was also shocked but fell outside the grounds, according to Chen.

    A preliminary investigation showed that renovation work and dilapidated buildings that have yet to be dismantled had obscured the guards’ vision.

    Li, 28, was convicted of robbery in 2006 and was given a reprieved death sentence, according to Shaoguan’s public security bureau.

    “The incident exposes loopholes in our prison management,” said Chen, who added that prison management authorities need to beef up security and learn from this incident.

    Police officers had promised a cash reward of 200,000 yuan (US$32,721) to anyone who directly helped capture Li.

    This is the country’s second reported jailbreak in less than two months.

    In early September, three inmates escaped from a detention center and allegedly killed a guard in the northeastern Chinese province of Heilongjiang. All three were later captured.(SD-Xinhua)