Continuous power blackouts from PNG Power Services in Mt Hagen saw the escape of 20 prisoners from the Baisu Correctional Institute last week.
In a statement, Acting CS Commissioner Michael Waipo said out of the twenty, sixteen are National Court remandees.
From the reports, the prison used a standby generator which was noisy, causing the duty guards not to hear anything. The breakout occurred in the early hours of the morning on Wednesday last week.
Commander Waipo said an internal investigation is underway to see if negligence or breach in routine led to this escape.
Mr Waipo has called on the remandees to voluntarily surrender to Police because they are innocent until proven otherwise, by Court of Law. He also urged relatives and parents of escapees not to harbor them as this is an offence under the Criminal Code.
Commander Waipo called on Correctional staff to put differences aside and perform their duty as per the Oath of Office.
