ZHENGZHOU - An escaped convict in Henan province was captured five days after had broken out of prison on Oct 25, a local official confirmed on Monday.

Wang Yongxing, a publicity official with Henan's prison management bureau, said the escapee was captured by the police on Sunday and then taken back to the Yubei Prison in Xinxiang, in northern Henan, where he had been imprisoned.

The convict, Dong Yunhai, 23, was sentenced in 2007 to 14 years in prison for burglary. When he escaped, he had served nearly five years of that term.

The provincial department of justice reported on Sunday that Dong had managed to get free from his jailers by "climbing cross the prison's wall". The statement, which contained fewer than 300 words, did not elaborate, though, on why or how he escaped. Nor did it go into detail about how Dong was captured.

Beijing News, citing an anonymous source with the Linzhou police, reported that Dong had been detained at noon on Sunday in his hometown, Linzhou, which is about 160 km north of Xinxiang.

The source said that Dong, after escaping, did not dare to go home immediately. He instead decided to walk north and stay a night in a nearby city in Shanxi province, which is 100 km from Linzhou.

Along the way he was recognized and captured by police from the Yubei Prison. He put up little resistance to being detained, the report said.

Both Wang and officials from the prison on Monday declined to comment further about the matter.

The statement said the province's justice department and prison management bureau have sent investigators to look further into the case.

Those who are found responsible for allowing the prison break to happen will be punished appropriately, it said.

China Daily