106 prisoners flee shelled Donetsk jail

AFP/DonetskScores of panicked inmates escaped when shells rained down on a high-security prison in eastern Ukraine during heavy fighting between government forces and pro-Moscow rebels, authorities said yesterday.Late on Sunday a high-security prison in a western district of the city was struck by mortar fire, allowing 106 inmates to escape, the prison authorities reported.“About 100 convicts escaped in a panic,” the penitentiary service said in a statement. One inmate was killed and five were injured, while two prison officials were also wounded, the authorities said.By morning yesterday, 34 of the inmates had been returned to the prison, they added. An AFP correspondent at the scene found the prison gates open and rebel gunmen patrolling the area.A rebel spokesman said they had come to secure the location over fears that escaped prisoners could try to obtain arms.An AFP correspondent reported sporadic shelling overnight in the one-million strong city of Donetsk as government troops now completely surround the rebel forces hunkered down there. The mining hub, once known for its leafy streets, has been pummelled by heavy fire for days, leaving a growing number of civilian casualties as homes and hospitals have been hit. In the Kievsky district north of the city centre, AFP saw a former army recruitment centre, and office and private house that were damaged in repeated shelling Sunday. “There’s never been any rebels here. I don’t understand why they are firing and bombing here,” said Nikolai, a local resident.