(BBC) The government of St Lucia has announced it will hold an inquiry into last weekend’s audacious prison break.
Three convicts – two Venezuelans serving time for drugs, and a St Lucian for firearms violation – escaped from the Bordelais Correctional Facility on Sunday, after masked men armed with automatic weapons exchanged gunfire with prison staff.
The government said it planned to seek help from Venezuela in mounting the investigation.
Authorities in Castries have launched a massive security operation to track down the escapees and their accomplices.
Police have deployed search teams along some of the island’s beaches to block possible escape by sea.
They have also sought assistance from the Regional Security System in the manhunt.
The escape was a major embarrassment for the authorities, given that the prison is just seven years old.
Foreign Minister Rufus Bousquet said the minister of national security had recently updated the cabinet on the weaknesses of security at the jail.
“I can’t of course relate these things in detail … but certainly the report that was made to cabinet indicates that for a facility that costs the St Lucian taxpayer such a vast amount of money at the very basic level it is really a basket full of holes.
“There are numerous opportunities for people to escape and certainly if they get the collusion and cooperation of persons within then it becomes a very simple matter,” Mr Bousquet said.
The $49 million Bordelais Correc-tional Facility was opened in 2003.
The opposition St Lucia Labour Party (SLP), which was in office at the time, has called for the sacking of the National Security Minister Guy Mayers over the escape.
SLP spokesman Eugene George says the government needs to answer a number questions.
“Was the facility adequately manned by correctional officers at the time of the attack?” Mr George said.
The last escape from Bordelais prison was last year but the escapee was recaptured within 24 hours.
