Some 500 inmates made a mass prison break via a hand-dug tunnel from a penitentiary in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar early on Monday, regional deputy police chief Nasrallah Yusufzai said.
Yusufzai told RIA Novosti by phone that the inmates had dug a tunnel under one of the prison walls and reached an ancient underground irrigation network that was built during the time of Alexander the Great. The tunnel the prisoners dug to the underground irrigation network was nearly 400 meters in length, he added.
So far none of the escapees have been captured and police are combing nearby villages and the outskirts of Kabul.
"Among the escapees are 115 Taliban rebels who were serving time for terrorist acts and armed attacks," Yusufzai said.
The morning muster at the prison showed 483 inmates escaped.
KABUL, April 25 (RIA Novosti)
