Albanian authorities search for escaped prisoners

Albanian police said they were hunting for two convicts who escaped from a northern prison, after re-capturing a convicted killer who escaped with them.

The three convicts escaped from a prison in Lezha, 70 kilometers north of capital Tirana, at about 0215GMT.

One man, identified as Redi Rrjolli, 21, was serving an eight-year sentence for murder and was arrested 90 minutes later at a nearby village.

The two others - Fisnik Matoshi, 21, and Valmir Qerimaj, 23, both convicted of theft and serving seven-year and four-year sentences respectively - were still at large, the police statement said.

Four police officers on guard duty at the prison were arrested, and authorities offered a US$10,000 reward for information leading to the capture of the two escaped prisoners.

It was the third time inmates have escaped from Albanian prisons this year. Albania's dilapidated prisons are overcrowded and many inmates are kept at police detention centers, the AP reports.

V.Y.