QUETTA: Seven prisoners escaped from Machh jail early on Thursday. Machh jail, some 50 kilometres south of Quetta, is a major prison in the province where mostly criminals facing the death penalty are kept. Jail official Saadullah Kakar told Daily Times that the seven prisoners were kept in a room in the jail hospital. They broke the toilet window and entered the 'B Class' area where they broke the fences and scaled the wall with the help of a rope. He said that senior Home Department officials were investigating. The official said the prisoners were facing punishment from four to 26 years. Around nine prisoners had escaped from the same prison last year and a few were arrested in Dera Ismail Khan in the North West Frontier Province. They had kidnapped some passengers coming from the Punjab province in Loralai district of Balochistan, demanding the release of their colleague. But the law enforcement agencies rescued the abducted people in a rescue operation.