CAIRO - Egypt prosecutors on Wednesday started questioning officers and guards in a police station in Cairo after more than 88 prisoners awaiting trial made a stunning jailbreak on Tuesday night, security sources said. The escape from the Sahel police station was the latest in a string of embarrassing security lapses in Egypt, raising questions about the police's ability to ensure its own security after the January 25 revolution. The entire staff of el-Sahel Police Station, including the commander, have been questioned as part of the investigation into the escape, said Prosecutor Amr Qandeel. He said the security forces continued the manhunt for the 88 fugitives, with the help of military police. The escape came just before midnight after the prisoners pried open the windows and doors of six detention rooms and burning them, Qandeel said, adding that an primary report showed that there was great negligence by the guards. He said that the number of police checkpoints were increased overnight near el-Sahel Station. Security sources said that the 88 men, detained on various criminal charges, broke out of the station after launching a large scale riot during which they broke open the doors and windows of six rooms. The men remain at large and are a danger to the public after escaping from the station, the police said. Prosecutor Qandeel said inadequate security measures contributed to Tuesday's jailbreak. "The locks to the gates are substandard and cheap. I think some of these led to the prisoners breaking jail." In another development, residents of the Cairo district of el-Zawyaa el- Hamra staged a protest outside the prosecutor' office Wednesday demanding that a 29-year-old Coptic man, allegedly accused of raping a three-year-old Muslim girl, be hanged to death, the police said.
