9 prisoners die in escape attempt

Nine inmates were electrocuted while trying to escape from one of Cameroon’s largest prisons, starting a fire that seriously burned about 20 other prisoners trapped in their cells, a Justice Ministry official said.

The bodies of the nine prisoners were found around the perimeter fence, said the official, who asked not be identified because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

Cameroon’s justice minister was heading to the prison in the commercial capital, Douala. It was built in the 1930s to hold about 800 inmates but has at least twice that number.