REGINA -- Jail officials in Saskatchewan were tipped to the possibility of an escape more than a week before six prisoners busted out, the province's corrections minister acknowledged Wednesday.
Darryl Hickie said the information came to the attention of staff at the Regina Correctional Centre 10 days before Sunday's escape.
"There was information gathered through either staff or inmates... that there was an escape plan," said Hickie.
"But they couldn't determine what unit was involved, which inmates, whether it was from inside the unit or outside the prison on maybe an escort or something. So they were just trying to glean some of that information."
If the intelligence about the escape was specific, then the facility should have been locked down, Hickie said.
"There's always information coming forth regarding escapes, and they told me that they monitor the situation, they do due diligence. They investigate the actual tips that come in and the intelligence and then they digest it and go from there," he said.
"In this case, with no specifics, they didn't feel it necessary to lock down the whole prison."
Provincial authorities have been scrambling to explain how six prisoners, including some facing murder charges, managed to escape. One inmate was quickly apprehended. A manhunt is on for the remaining five, described by police as dangerous and possibly armed.
The five being sought are Ryan John Agecoutay, 25; Preston Clarence Buffalocalf, 22; Cody Dillon Keenatch, 19; James Joseph Pewean, 25, and Daniel Richard Wolfe, 32.
Manitoba Mounties are on alert because Wolfe, one of the founders of the Indian Posse street gang, is originally from The Pas and has ties in Winnipeg.
The escape was made from a section of the jail built in the 1960s. Two previous escapes in 2003 prompted concerns about the jail's infrastructure, but officials have said those incidents happened in a much older section of the facility which is being decommissioned.
Hickie said an investigation will determine if the latest breach is part of a bigger infrastructure problem.
-- The Canadian Press
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