CCTV camera captures mass escape of prisoners

According to reports, social media images broadcast on Brazilian TV captured the moment when the explosion ripped through the external wall of the Frei Damiao de Bozanno prison.

Two of the escapees died while 40 were recaptured by the military police immediately after fleeing, said officials of the Union of Agents and Servers in the Penitentiary System (SINDASP).

The incident comes just days after 53 prisoners escaped from the prison Professor Barreto Campelo of Itamaracá, in the metropolitan area of Recife. Footage of the exterior of the building shows a man approach the wall and drop a package before moving quickly away.

Later some of the group turn around and run back into the prison, though it is unclear exactly why the men appeared to change their mind.

Xinhua news agency reported citing Brazilian newspaper Diario de Pernambuco’s report. However, all of those prisoners have been recaptured.

Police said on Globo television that one of the two inmates killed was shot at after breaking into a local house. Footage showed the man lying in a pool of blood on the floor.

Investigations are now underway into how the prisoners managed to escape.

A study by Human Rights Watch 2015 revealed that jails designed for 10,500 inmates can contain up to 32,000 in Brazil.

Media sources also describe how many prisoners have to sleep on the floor and there are so few guards that authorities often give monitoring control to selected prisoners who have they own set of keys for the interior of the jail.