State-run media: 60 inmates escape from Liberian prison near border with Ivory Coast

MONROVIA, Liberia – State-run media says more than 60 inmates have broken out of prison in the West African nation of Liberia.

Regional authorities and state radio said that authorities were combing nearby forests in an effort to re-arrest the escapees late Wednesday.

The jailbreak took place at a maximum security prison in the southeastern city of Zwedru on the border with Ivory Coast. The region is currently hosting tens of thousands of Ivorian refugees who fled in the wake of Ivory Coast's postelection violence in late 2010 and early 2011.

Human rights groups say supporters of former Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo have launched attacks inside Ivory Coast from neighboring Liberia in recent months.