More than 800 inmates have escaped from two prisons in west central Tunisia after prison cells caught fire, a state agency reported.
The TAP agency said the escapees fled the Gafsa and Kasserine prisons on Friday, AFP reported.
Gafsa prison security guards arrested 35 of the escapees and are continuing to search for the others with the help of the army.
No one was killed in the fires and there was no serious damage.
Mass prison escapes in Tunisia also took place during a popular uprising that forced President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali to step down on January 14.
The Tunisian justice minister called on around 9,500 inmates to return to jail late in January.
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