Spokesman of the Uganda Prisons Service, Mr Frank Baine has said 59 of the prisoners who escaped from Moroto Prison, have been confirmed to be positive for coronavirus.
On Wednesday last week, 219 prisoners who were serving various sentences, escaped from Singila Prison with more than 15 guns and 480 rounds of ammunition after breaking into the prisons armory and overpowering the guard.
Ever since, the manhunt for the prisoner-turned-fugitives mounted by the UPDF has been on.
Baine said results from tests conducted on inmates just before the prison break have confirmed 191 positive COVID-19, 59 of whom are escapees. The new development causes a great danger to communities where the escapees are currently hiding, says Baine.
Baine further noted that Moroto prison has been converted into a COVID-19 treatment center for inmates due to the high numbers of cases registered so far.
The Commissioner-General of Prisons, Dr. Johnson Byabashaija on Monday announced an offer of a 1.5 Million shillings bounty for anyone who recovers a gun from escapees and 500,000 (half a million) for a captured prisoner.
Dr. Byabashaija revealed that 14 inmates have been recaptured and seven killed leaving a total of 21 inmates so far accounted for.
According to the UPDF 3rd Division Spokesperson, Maj. Mugisha, the hunt for the escapees will continue until the escapes are re-arrested and the guns recovered.
Mugisha said two of the escapees were shot dead on Saturday in Nadunget Sub-county, Moroto District, while trying to avoid being re-arrested.
Another escapee had become wild and was killed by a mob while another one was captured alive and taken back to prison.
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