Uganda hunts prisoners after second jail-break

KAMPALA, Mar 16 (Reuters) Ugandan police were hunting 45 prisoners still at large yesterday after escaping under cover of a storm in the remote north, the second jail-break there in recent days.

Adjumani police commander George Ochakacon said 10 inmates had been captured so far after fleeing into the bush from a district prison during fierce weather on Sunday night.

''The search is on. We will get them,'' he told Reuters.

On February 25, more than 400 prisoners escaped from a jail in nearby Arua town, this time slipping out as guards celebrated news of President Yoweri Museveni's re-election.

Most of Uganda's 20,000 inmates are housed in cramped, squalid conditions, watched over by too few guards. Police are investigating the involvement of warders in both break-outs.

The escape in Arua was particularly embarrassing for the authorities, who have so far recaptured fewer than half the prisoners, despite offering rare rewards for information.

The military said it feared scores had already joined a group of notorious Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels based in the jungles of neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo.

And the northwest regional police commander later blamed others for a sharp increase in violent crime in the area.

Arua is about 500 km from the capital Kampala.

REUTERS SK RAI0448