Officials on Tuesday reported that more than 200 prisoners in Karachi have escaped after they were permitted to leave their cells following a series of earthquake tremors.

Zia-ul- Hasan Lanjar, the provincial law minister, told reporters at the scene that hundreds of prisoners were allowed into the jail courtyard due to the tremors.

“There was panic here because of earthquake tremors,” said Mr Lanjar, adding that it was hard to control a throng of up to 1,000 people.

The jailbreak began just before midnight on Monday and carried on till the early hours of Tuesday, he said.

Police said the prisoners snatched guns from prison staff, leading to a shootout, and then forced open the main gate.

On Tuesday, a Reuters reporter at the site saw shattered glass and damaged electronic equipment inside the jail.

A meeting room for prisoners to see their families had been ransacked.

Anxious family members gathered outside the jail on Tuesday.

Mr Lanjar said this was one of the largest jailbreaks ever in Pakistan.

The prison in the Malir district of Karachi, Pakistan’s biggest city, is in a poor residential and industrial neighbourhood.

Local footage also showed prisoners running through the area through the night, some barefoot, chased by police.

The police were able to round some up into police vans, the footage showed.

Provincial police chief Ghulam Nabi Memon said that most of the inmates had been involved in small-time crimes like drug addiction.

Mr Memon added that at least one prisoner was killed in the shooting, which also wounded three prison staff.

Murad Ali Shah, the provincial chief minister, said that around 80 prisoners had so far been caught, adding that it was a mistake for the prison authorities to have allowed the inmates out of their cells.

He warned those still at large to hand themselves in or face a serious charge for breaking out.

(Reuters/NAN)