Bali police: Escapees may have drowned
PETALING JAYA: Bali police are investigating whether four foreign inmates at Kerobokan Prison, including a Malaysian, could have drowned while trying to dig their way out.
The four, which included Malaysian Tee Kok King, were earlier reported to have escaped through a tunnel on Monday.
A police diver attempted to check the tunnel yesterday but discovered it was unstable and flooded, according to a report by Australia’s 9News.
Badung police chief Yudith Satriya Hananta said police found a fork but there was no sign of the prisoners. He expressed fears the inmates could have been trapped in the tunnel and drowned, adding that the tunnel is being drained.
Tee escaped with Bulgarian Dimitar Nikolov Iliev, who was sentenced to seven years prison for money laundering in 2016, Indian national Sayed Mohammed Said, who was jailed for a drugs offence and Australian Shaun Edward Davidson.
Tee, 48, was nabbed in January last year for smuggling syabu and was sentenced to seven years’ jail.
Police have questioned 10 guards who were on duty at the time of the escape but no conclusive details have been obtained.
Kerobokan Prison has a grim reputation for overcrowding and facilities that are below international standards.
Among the prison’s notable foreign inmates in recent years were members of the so-called “Bali Nine” group of Australians who were arrested in 2005 for trying to smuggle 8.39kg.