3 Chinese inmates kill guard, break out of jail

Photo of the three inmates. [people.com.cn]

Three inmates, including one sentenced to death, escaped in a rare jailbreak in China's northeast after killing a guard early Tuesday morning.

The escape from a jail at Yanshou county, Harbin took place about 6 am Tuesday, according to a report on the website of the Communist Party's flagship newspaper People's Daily. Armed police are searching for the fugitives, it said.

One of the men, 50-year-old Gao Yulun, had been sentenced to death, the report said. The other two, 35-year-old Wang Damin and 29-year-old Li Haiwei, were charged, respectively, with assault leading to death and murder, although it wasn't clear whether they had gone on trial yet.

The three donned police jackets and shirts as they left the jail, the report said.

Chinese jails and prisons are run along strict lines and escapes are extremely rare.