Manhunt under way for al-Qaida fugitives

BAGHDAD, Sept. 24 (UPI) -- A search was under way in Iraq Thursday for 15 al-Qaida militants who escaped a prison outside Baghdad, police officials said.

Police officials in Salah al-Din Province told CNN 16 al-Qaida inmates broke out of a prison in Tikrit Wednesday night by crawling through an air vent and climbing a prison wall.

One inmate was recaptured Thursday, while the rest remained at large.

Five of the inmates, including the one recaptured, were facing death sentences. Among the escaped inmates' various crimes are murders, making explosives and kidnappings.

Prison guards at the Tikrit facility were being investigated by the Iraqi Interior Ministry, which has taken control of the investigation.

CNN said the prison in Tikrit, which was the hometown of executed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, houses more than 400 prisoners.