Seventeen inmates recaptured after Peru prison break

LIMA: Seventeen dangerous inmates who broke out of a prison high in the Andes have been recaptured, Peru's interior ministry said Thursday.

"We have captured all the criminals who escaped from the Challapalca prison," said Interior Minister Daniel Lozada in a statement to the news media. "We have 16 alive and one dead."

The last two fugitives to be caught were arrested on Thursday near Tarata, in southern Peru.

The dead fugitive may have died from hypothermia after being exposed to extreme cold during his escape, according to press reports. However another press report says he was shot by police.

Some 200 police officers were deployed to hunt down the convicts, who were doing time for crimes such as robbery and kidnapping.

The prisoners escaped Sunday from their isolated prison in the mountains some 4,600 meters (15,000 feet) above the sea level near the Bolivian border, according to Peruvian Justice Minister Juan Jimenez. The prison houses 129 inmates.

The first 15 escapees were captured on Monday and Tuesday in the southeastern Peruvian city of Puno.

Prosecutors announced that two guards at Challapalca prison were arrested for allegedly assisting in the escape. (AFP)