A spokesman for the Department of Prisons and Correctional Services, Ignatius Mainga, confirmed the jailbreak to The Namibian.

Mainga said the three - Nicolaas Kooper (21), David Smit (26) and Hendrik Booysen - escaped after sawing through the burglar bars in front of their cell window.

He said three other prisoners were sharing the cell with the escapees, but were apparently too big to fit through the window.

Two of the escapees, Smit and Kooper, were serving six-month sentences for a previous escape from custody, as well 20-year sentences suspended for 16 years for stock theft.

Mainga described Booysen as dangerous.

Booysen, who was also serving a six-month sentence for escaping from lawful custody, was due to appear in court yesterday on a further charge of murder.

Mainga said it was being investigated whether warders at the jail had been negligent at all.

The escapees were still at large late yesterday.

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