ISF members outside a detention center in Beirut on Aug. 7, 2022. (Credit: Anwar Amro/AFP)
BEIRUT — Four detainees escaped Wednesday night from a police station in Sour, South Lebanon, a senior source in the Internal Security Forces (ISF) told L'Orient-Le Jour.
According to a police source, authorities discovered Thursday morning that the four men — three Lebanese and one Palestinian — had made their escape.
The men reportedly dug a hole through the wall of the police station into an adjacent house, from which they then escaped. The initial reasons for their detention were not disclosed.
An investigation has been opened, the source added.
Prison escapes have been frequent in recent months amid Lebanon's economic collapse.
In December 2022, the ISF prevented six detainees from escaping from the Jbaa police station in the Iqlim al-Touffah region, according to the state-run National News Agency. In the same year, eighteen prisoners managed to escape from a detention center in Amioun, Koura, North Lebanon.
In October 2022, nine prisoners escaped from the Fakhreddine barracks, located near the headquarters of UNESCO in Beirut. In the same month, 19 prisoners escaped from Jounieh prison in Kesrouan.
In August 2022, about 30 prisoners managed to escape through a window of the Adlieh detention center in Beirut, after smuggling a tool into the premises. Some of the fugitives were later apprehended.
Reporting contributed by Muntasser Abdallah