Koh Kong provincial police are investigating how four prisoners escaped from the provincial prison yesterday after a guard allowed them to come out of their cells to perform prison-sanctioned activities, police officials said.

“They escaped after they were allowed to come out from their prison cells for exercising and cleaning plants in front of the prison’s courtyard,” said Colonel Lay Meng Laing, provincial penal police unit chief and Koh Kong provincial police deputy chief.

The prisoners, Laing said, escaped around 2pm and ran into the thick forests around a nearby village to hide.

“These four prisoners who escaped were just arrested and jailed last month for operating illegal online games in Koh Kong. They have yet to be tried in court,” he said, adding that police are working to search for and arrest the escapees.

According to Koh Kong prison deputy chief Lieutenant Colonel Seng Leang, the prison break was due to the guards’ inattentiveness.

Leang added that the guards in question will be suspended if police are unable to locate and arrest the prisoners.

“I think that this was caused by the carelessness of our prison guards. To prevent prisoners from escaping or breaking out from prison in the future, we will strengthen our provincial prison guards’ quality of work and build up their capacity.”