Prison chief held in break bid
Print Edition
SIX inmates took two officials hostage, seized guns and ammunition, and demanded safe exit from a prison in southern Taiwan yesterday.
Taiwan’s justice department said it had not agreed to the demands of the inmates, who were holding Warden Chen Shih-chih and head guard Wang Shih-tsang after the pair offered to swap themselves for earlier hostages.
No injuries had been reported, the department said.
The inmates — serving long sentences for burglary, murder and drug crimes — also seized four rifles, six handguns and more than 200 bullets from the prison’s armory, it said.
Witnesses interviewed by private cable news station TVBS said gunshots were heard. Other reports said the shots were fired into the air.
Within hours, armed police had surrounded the prison in the city of Kaohsiung, and snipers were shown arriving at the scene, according to a live feed by TVBS. Authorities also called on relatives of the inmates to plea for the release of the hostages.
The inmates demanded the police force be withdrawn and that two vehicles be provided to allow them to leave in exchange for the safety of the detainees, but the department said it turned down the requests.
“The priority now is to negotiate and we won’t just answer to their demands,” said Chen Ming-tang, deputy justice chief.
“Certainly we have to consider the safety of the hostages,” he said.
Authorities identified Cheng Li-teh as the man who led the confrontation. He is a member of the mafia-type organization Bamboo Union, and is serving a 28-year sentence for homicide, the justice department said. The other five are serving sentences ranging from 25 years to life.
The department said deputy warden Lai Chen-jung and Wang Shih-tsang volunteered to swap with the two guards who were initially taken hostage.
Later, Chen, the prison warden, offered to exchange with Lai as a hostage.
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