28 inmates escape Belgian prison

EAST FLANDERS, Belgium, Aug. 20 (UPI) -- Twenty-eight inmates have escaped from a Belgian prison, overpowering guards to get into the prison courtyard and scale the walls.

Six were captured during Saturday's break-out, but police have launched a search operation for the others, the BBC reported.

Officials said the jailbreak at Dendermonde jail, northwest of Brussels, began when two prisoners succeeded in forcing their cell door open, took several guards hostage and demanded the keys. They then freed 26 others.

Officials declined to say how the cell door had been forced open.