国内英语新闻:Chinese police kill one escaped prisoner, capture three others

HOHHOT, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- Police said Tuesday they had shot and killed an escaped prisoner and apprehended three others in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

    The four escaped on Saturday from the No. 2 Prison in Hohhot, capital of Inner Mongolia, after killing a prison guard, said a spokesman from the regional public security department.

    Acting on information from local residents, police surrounded the men in Helin County early Tuesday, after they had hijacked a motor tricycle and taken the woman driver hostage.

    Police shot dead Gao Bo, who resisted arrest and injured a police officer with knife, said the spokesman.

Policemen escort an escaped prisoner in Hohhot, capital of north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Oct. 20, 2009. Police said Tuesday they had shot and killed one escaped prisoner and apprehended three others in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region

    Another man, Qiao Hai, was shot and injured. He had tried to kill himself by cutting his throat with knife and jumping off a building before being captured, the spokesman said.

    The hostage suffered minor injuries, he said.

    Police began to hunt for the four, aged from 21 to 28, soon after their escape and the prison management issued an appeal through a local television station for information leading to their arrest.

    Two of the men were serving suspended death sentences and two were serving life prison terms, said the spokesman without giving details of their convictions.

    The public security department of Inner Mongolia said 12,300 police and armed police officers had been deployed to search for the escapees, who were regarded as dangerous. Police searched thousands of hotels, nightclubs and Internet bars, questioned 47,500 people and stopped 24,600 vehicles.

    The four prisoners were on the run for only 66 hours before they were apprehended.

    "We appreciate the local residents' help in hunting the prisoners," said Zhao Liping, head of the public security department of the region." It's a successful people's war against the criminals."