…two accomplices captured immediately after the escape
Sekete Lesaoana
MASERU, Lesotho – Four “dangerous” inmates are on the run after a daring escape from Maseru Maximum Correctional facility.
The four escaped along with two others who have already been recaptured.
The convicts made their escape through an air conditioner hole
The six escaped through a hole meant for air conditioning, according to Chief Officer Bokang Ramotena.
Two of the escapees were captured shortly after their escape was noticed by the authorities on Thursday evening. One was captured near the Police Training College, a few hundred metres from the prison while another was captured while he was heading towards the Maseru border purportedly intending to cross into South Africa.
The four that are on the run have been identified by the Lesotho Correctional Service as Seboka Motumi of Makhaleng (serving a murder sentence), Bokang Khotso of Tsoako (serving a sentence for housebreaking), Tumelo Mpopo of Ha-Tsosane (serving a sentence for (housebreaking) and Bokang Molongoana of Nazareth who is serving a sentence for cable theft.
It is still unclear how many each of the convicts was serving in prison.
In telephone interview, Chief Officer Ramotena said although they did not have adequate information about the escapees, it was unlikely that they were still travelling as a group.
Convicts could have been aided to escape
He said they also suspected that the escape was well planned and that there could have been a getaway vehicle waiting for to transport some of the convicts.
“The air conditioning hole in the wall is the one they used to escape. Apparently, they used a bucket to elevate their height and one inmate stood on another’s shoulders so that they could reach the air conditioning hole in the wall. From there they went outside the building onto a slab from which they jumped to the ground and crossed the perimeter fence.
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“For now, this is all the information that we can share as a manhunt is ongoing,” Chief Officer Ramotena said.
He also warned the public against attempting to apprehend the escapees as they were deemed dangerous and could be armed.
This is not the first time for prisoners to escape from the maximum-security facility. In 2009, the police in Maseru had to launch a manhunt for two dangerous prisoners who broke out of the maximum-security prison in a movie-style escape.
The fugitive prisoners, Patrick Molekane and Thato Ramafikeng, were part of a group of five hardcore criminals who broke out of the maximum-security section of the Maseru Correctional Institution on January 25 of that year.
The other two inmates – Montši Raselimo and Motloheloa Thaele – were captured about four hours later just after crossing the border into South Africa.
The third, Malefane Motoai, was caught the following day.
In a curious twist to the daring escape, Motoai was found dead in his cell the following morning and police suspect foul play.
Molekane was serving eight years for vehicle theft, while Ramafikeng was doing as much time for armed robbery.
Ramafikeng, also known as Tšeliso Ntee, was from Bloemfontein in South Africa.
Molekane’s last known address was also across the border in Clocolan, about 50 kilometres from Maseru.
Lesotho Correctional Service’s then senior assistant commissioner, Matingoe Phamotse, at the time said the escape appeared to have been well planned.
According to Phamotse, prison guards doing routine checks found the inmates missing around 5:30am on the day of their escape.
The prisoners were suspected to have forced out burglar bars on a small toilet window before slithering out.
“I think they didn’t use any objects to break the burglar bars as they only had their shoes and clothes in a cell,” Phamotse told the Lesotho Times at the time.
“It looks like they used their hands to force the burglar bars apart.”
The quintet dashed about 100m to the prison complex’s perimeter fence, cut it open and fled.
They then crossed the Mohokare River, about three kilometres from the prison, into neighbouring South Africa.
The prison wardens on duty, on realising that the five had escaped, raised alarm and a manhunt was immediately launched.
“I don’t think they had gone for more than 30 minutes when the officers recognised that they had disappeared because the correctional officers do routine rounds every time,” Phamotse said at the time.
After combing Maseru and nearby South African towns, two of the escapees were nabbed around 10am while walking in a maize-field towards Ladybrand, some 15km from the Lesotho border.
One of the prisoners, Raselimo, was still in his full prison garb – red shirt and khakhi trousers – while the other, Thaele, had taken off his shirt.
The third escapee, Motoai, was captured by the South African police in the Free State province.
