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Caracas, Venezuela:
A group of 42 men who were being held for crimes including murder, kidnapping and robbery broke out of a jail outside Caracas early on Wednesday, local media reported.
The men escaped from the detention center in Los Teques around 4:00 am as they were waiting to be transported to a prison. The daily La Region newspaper said they snuck out through a gap by the back door.
The paper also published a list of names of those who escaped. Among them were eight who were being held for car robberies, 23 for murder and four for kidnapping.
Justice officials did not immediately return calls seeking comment.
The provisional detention center had a capacity of 40 inmates but was holding more than 130.
The non-governmental Venezuelan Observatory of Prisons has said the country's prisons were severely overcrowded and reported on a wave of violence that saw 150 prisoners murdered in the first half of 2014.
The men escaped from the detention center in Los Teques around 4:00 am as they were waiting to be transported to a prison. The daily La Region newspaper said they snuck out through a gap by the back door.
The paper also published a list of names of those who escaped. Among them were eight who were being held for car robberies, 23 for murder and four for kidnapping.
Justice officials did not immediately return calls seeking comment.
The provisional detention center had a capacity of 40 inmates but was holding more than 130.
The non-governmental Venezuelan Observatory of Prisons has said the country's prisons were severely overcrowded and reported on a wave of violence that saw 150 prisoners murdered in the first half of 2014.
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