Six death row convicts killed in Kenya jail break

NAIROBI, Kenya (Reuters) -- Warders in Kenya shot and killed six naked death row inmates during an attempted escape from a maximum security prison, police said on Tuesday.

Police spokesman Peter Kimanthi said two other death row convicts had managed to escape from King'ong'o Maximum Security Prison in the town of Nyeri, 200 km (120 miles) north of the capital Nairobi.

He said warders opened fire on the convicts, sentenced to hang for robbery with violence, as they attempted to scale a 25 foot (eight meter) perimeter wall at 2 a.m. (2300 GMT) on Monday.

The prisoners had stripped off and tied their prison uniforms together to form a rope.

Kimanthi said an investigation had been launched into the escape itself and whether unwarranted force was used by the prison warders.

The Kenya Human Rights Commission estimates there are close to 2,000 prisoners on death row in the country although there have been no executions since 1985.

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