More than 5,000 people, including armed police, have been dispatched to search for two escaped convicts in Xingguo County, east China's Jiangxi Province.

The two at large are among eight prisoners who broke out of a detention house in Xingguo County on October 30; six were captured two days after the escape.

According to Liu Tanghu, the only prison guard on duty that night, the eight had crafted a well-organized escape plan.

The prisoners stayed late in one of the workshops, where materials used to make plastic roses were stored. One of them pretended to have a headache and lured Liu into the workshop.

Liu and Lai Wenchang, a minor offender serving as an assistant, were both tied up with adhesive tape and ropes in just ten minutes.

Having taken away Liu's keys, the prisoners disguised themselves as transporters of plastic flowers, avoiding suspicion from the armed police safeguarding one of the gates. They then broke through four iron gates, half of which were unlocked.

Liu struggled to sound an alarm ten minutes later and reported the breakout to the local public security bureau.

Hundreds of police officers started search operations all over the county; inspection stations were set up at every tollgate and intersection; the wanted list was broadcast on TV repeatedly.

At 10 AM October 30, about eight and a half hours after the breakout, police captured two of the prisoners. Another four runners fell into the net in succession by the end of the next day.

A total of 5,000 people have been dispatched to search for the last two prisoners, but some fear it is too late. It's said that they might have crossed the border of Xingguo County, and the operation headquarters have reportedly moved to neighboring Ganxian County.

An official from the county's publicity department promised the authorities would do everything in their power to bring the escaped convicts back under arrest and refused to comment on the breakout details revealed by the media. "We will hold a press conference after all the prisoners are captured. Everything will be clear at that time," he said.

(China.org.cn by Huang Shan November 5, 2007)