Almost 20 inmates have escaped from Manokwari Prison in the Indonesian province of West Papua in what was described by the warden as a carefully planned jailbreak.

Of the 128 convicts being held at the penitentiary, 19 managed to flee after wounding a prison guard and pulling down the main gate, leaving the rest of the guards too stunned to respond.

Some political prisoners are held there.

The dramatic escape was staged soon after a religious service.

Wiliam said the prisoners attended the Mass in the prison yard as usual and that there was no suspicious behavior to indicate an escape was in the works.

“After Sunday Mass, all of the inmates went back inside the prison building,” he said.

“But at about 1:30 p.m., some of the prisoners began approaching the main gate, and they suddenly attacked the guard there and then quickly fled.”

Read the entire story at Scoop.co.nz