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進入《TAIPEI TIMES 焦點》 Prisoners take warden, guards hostage
Police officers gather outside Kaohsiung’s Daliao Prison yesterday evening as a hostage situation continued. Photo: CNA
UNDER SIEGE: Kaohsiung police deployed a heavily armed force of 250, including SWAT teams, Marines and special forces while they tried to negotiate a surrender
By Jason Pan / Staff reporter
Six convicts carrying rifles and handguns yesterday took the head warden of Kaohsiung Prison hostage in a bid to escape the facility, as SWAT teams and various police units surrounded the facility last night in what is being called the biggest jailbreak attempt in Taiwan’s history.
As of press time last night, authorities were still trying to negotiate with the six prisoners, who were reportedly led by Cheng Li-te （鄭立德）, an organized crime member imprisoned for murder, who was holding warden Chen Shih-chih （陳世志） captive.
There were tense scenes outside the facility in Daliao District （大寮） last night, as the Kaohsiung City Police Department coordinated a massive show of force, with the deployment of more than 250 officers, including riot police, SWAT teams and a Marine assault squad, along with other units of military special operation forces, all of them heavily armed.
Authorities had not tried to storm the prison as of press time to prevent causing an even larger jailbreak or fatalities, as Kaohsiung Prison is among the largest correctional facilities in southern Taiwan with more than 2,000 inmates.
It was reported that the six convicts had broke into the facility’s weapons depot before 4pm, and took possession of six assault rifles and four handguns, along with ammunition and other supplies.
The convicts also took two more hostages, including the head of the prison’s Guard and Control Section, and still had all of them captive.
According to witness accounts, dozen of shots rang out in the late afternoon as the convicts exchanged fire with prison guards trying to repel the onslaught, but no injuries were reported at that time.
“The important task is to ensure the safety of hostages and other prisoners,” Deputy Minister of Justice Chen Ming-tang （陳明堂） said last night. “The priority is on talking and negotiating with the convicts to persuade them to release the hostages and to surrender peacefully.”
Chen Ming-tang confirmed news reports that the reported head of the jailbreak group, Cheng Li-te, is the boss of a local Kaohsiung chapter of the Bamboo Union （竹聯幫）, one of the major triad syndicates in Taiwan, and that Cheng is serving a 28-and-a-half-year term for murder, firearm possession and other offenses.
He also confirmed that the other five convicts in the group were all serving more than 10-year terms for murder, drug possession, burglary and other offenses.
Chen Ming-tang said the convicts have spoken to negotiators and made calls to various media organizations to relay their demands for the police to provide them with two cars with full tanks for their getaway, while promising that their hostages would be released when they arrived at a safe destination.
The convicts told media by telephone that the police must not storm the prison, and if that happens, they will fire their weapons without hesitation.
Authorities said they have sent in the local police chief and deputies, along with family members and close associates of the six convicts to persuade them to surrender.
Police have placed spike strips to puncture car tires and 16 reinforced barriers and check-points on the roads leading outside the facility in case of the convicts try to escape in vehicles.
As of press time, Premier Mao Chi-kuo （毛治國） was due to arrive outside the prison to coordinate the police operation and security measures.
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
Police wait outside Kaohsiung’s Daliao Prison last night. Photo: Huang Hsu-lei, Taipei Times
Cheng Li-te, an inmate of the Kaohsiung Prison in Kaohsiung’s Daliao District involved in the prison riot yesterday, is pictured in an undated photograph. Photo retaken by Huang Liang-chieh, Taipei Times
