Approximately 600 prisoners escaped from a military barracks in South Sudan's capital Juba on Wednesday morning, resulting in soldiers firing in the air as warning shots to the escapees.
The prisoners had been detained over their alleged involvement in the recent retaliatory attacks targeting Sudanese nationals in South Sudan.
South Sudan recently witnessed a spate of violence and looting, as some people protested the alleged killing of South Sudanese nationals in the neighbouring Sudan.
The Sudanese army, which rights groups had accused of the deadly attacks on locals and foreigners, said it was investigating the reports.
'Most of the escapees rearrested'
On Wednesday at around 9:30am local time (0730hrs GMT), 550 civilians and 50 law enforcement officers, who had been detained at the Giada military barracks in Juba over their alleged involvement in the retaliatory attacks against Sudanese nationals last week, escaped from the facility.
Soldiers at the barracks fired in the air to scare the prisoners and avert more jailbreaks.
South Sudan's Police Spokesperson Colonel John Kassara Nhilal said in an address to journalists in Juba on Wednesday that a hunt for the escapees was ongoing, with "most of them" already rearrested.
Police said that 410 were already taken into custody, while 190 remained at large.
South Sudan has since cordoned off the Giada military barracks and increased patrols across Juba.
➤ Click here to follow our WhatsApp channel for more stories.
