MUZAFFARABAD, Oct 18: Dozens of hardened criminals awaiting execution escaped during the deadly earthquake earlier this month. Local people and officials say at least 15 prisoners were killed and around 40 injured, but more than half of the estimated 120 inmates in Muzaffarabad Central Jail used the earthquake as an opportunity to escape.

The jail in the heart of Muzaffarabad, normally houses only death row prisoners or those convicted of capital crimes who are appealing against their sentences.

“I didn’t even notice them escaping,” said Ayub Mohammed, whose home used to overlook the main prison courtyard, but now lies in ruins against its rear wall.

“People were looking after themselves and their loved ones. I only heard afterwards they had escaped.”

Few buildings around the jail survived the earthquake and the local authority has virtually collapsed in the aftermath, so getting precise figures is difficult.

But the one remaining prison block of the four that existed provides a revealing look into life on death row in Pakistan. Apart from a few bricks dislodged, and everything covered in dust, it is almost exactly as it would have been before the quake.

In a space about half the size of a tennis court, 27 thin mattresses lie side by side, less than a handspan between them, on a raised concrete block.

There is a central cooking facility — the prisoners are responsible for their own food although rations are provided and relatives frequently supply them with supplementary items.

There are two squat toilets and showers for each block and an exercise yard about the size of a tennis court.

At the head of each bed was a tin box with a padlock for prisoners to keep their belongings. The boxes had all been opened — some by force — either by the prisoners themselves or by looters who picked through the remains of damaged buildings looking for valuables.

The lockers held nothing of monetary value, although for many prisoners they were their only touch with life on the outside. Mohammed Jahangir’s box contained court documents which described how he had been sentenced to death for gunning down three acquaintances.—Reuters