A manhunt is continuing for two escapees who broke out of the new Huatolitoli Prison three days ago.

The two men remain at large in Tongatapu after escaping from Tonga's newly opened Hu'atolitoli Prison at Vaini on Monday June 6 after cutting through iron bars and climbing over a 15ft high cement fence, in a carefully planned escape.

Sione Uatekini (25) from Tatakamotonga and Peni 'Inia (21) from Tu'anuku, Vava'u who lived at Kanokupolu have escaped from the old and less secure prison compound numerous times over the last few years with their last escape in July 2010.

This is the first escape from the new secure prison compound that was constructed at a cost of $1.4 million pa'anga and opened in August last year.

The Commissioner of Prisons Sione Falemanu told Matangi Tonga Online on June 8, that the two prisoners were locked up in separate single cells in one of the two prison blocks. "They must have escaped after 6am on June 6."

He said the prison guard recorded in his logbook that at 6am the two men were in their cells.

"It was not until the next check up at 8am that the guards found the men had escaped. So they have must have escaped between 6am to 8am," said Sione.

Three exits

He said the two men as they are believed to have used hacksaws to carve through the iron bars of their cells and broke out through three exits.

The first exit was from their cell in which they each carved one iron bar at their cell door and slid through the opening into the main prison hall.

The second exit took them through yet another iron bar window inside the shower room in the main prison building. They again carved through an iron bar and escaped out of the prison block onto the lawn area.

Sione said the third exit was using a rope that they had tightly plaited from their sheets and it must have had a rod at the end, because they threw it on top of the fence hooking the rod end to the barbed wire on top of the fence and climbed over and escaped into the plantation.

"This escape showed that the new prison is not secure and more and urgent work needs to be done to make the compound safer because these two men showed us how easily they could get out from the new prison," he said.

Hacksaw

He suspected that the men got the hacksaws in their possession from outside of the new prison compound when they were let out to work at the plantation and they must have hidden it when they were put back into their cells.

"But at the same time they are searched when prisoners are put into their cells but the guards might have either overlooked this or they hid it in something that the guards did not suspect it was in," he said.

Sione then advised the public that these two are men are dangerous as they are in for the long haul in prison for quite a number of serious housebreaking and theft offences.

'Inia, who has escaped prison four times is in for eight years, while Uatekini who has escaped six times, has 10 years imprisonment left, he said.

New facility

The two new and prison facilities at Hu'atolitoli Prison were constructed with $1.4 million pa'anga development aid from China.

The first prison block is 42.8mt long and 16.5mt wide contains 25 cells accommodating two prisoners in each with toilets with a common shower room.

The second block is half the size of the main building with 41mt long and 9mt wide contains 26 cells also completed with individual toilets and bathroom facilities.

Man hunt

Police Commissioner Chris Kelley said on June 8, police are anxious to locate the two escaped prisoners and would appreciate any information from the public. He warned that the men should not be approached and any sightings should be reported to the police on telephone 922.

Meanwhile, prison wardens have divided up in three teams and are on the hunt for the two men today.

"But we have not been notified with any promising leads where they might be but we are looking," said the Commissioner of Prisons.

There are currently 117 prisoners held at Hu'atolitoli, including eight women.