Bingöl Governor İbrahim Taşyapan confirmed that 18 PKK guerrillas escaped from the city prison through a tunnel they dug.

The PKK guerrilas, said the governor, emerged from the tunnel from a waste-water canal 10 meters away from the outer walls of the prison.

The authorities also added they think the PKK prisoners have been digging the tunnel for around a year. However the governor said neither the soil nor shovels possibly used in the escape have been found.

Police helicopters are searching for the PKK guerrillas, who might have changed their clothes, above rural areas. Heavy security at all entries and exits at highway check points.

Bingöl prison can hold 325 inmates and is situated 12 kilometers from the city center.