Update: Copperbelt police recapture 3 of the 11 suspects who broke out of Lufwanyama cells, one accused of murdering a Grade 10 pupil

Update: Earlier coverage reported that 11 suspects, ten of them facing murder charges, escaped from Lufwanyama Police Station. New since then: police have recaptured three of them. Police on the Copperbelt have recaptured three of the 11 suspects who escaped from custody at Lufwanyama Police Station last weekend. One of the three is accused of murdering a Grade 10 pupil. On the reported figures, that leaves eight people still unaccounted for. Ten of the 11 who escaped were facing murder charges. None of them has been convicted. The breakout happened between late on Friday, 30 October and the early hours of Saturday, during a power blackout. Copperbelt Province Police Commissioner Edwin Kaluba attributed the outage to heavy rain. Officers found the back window of one cell broken and its burglar bars cut. Inspector Tembo Gracious reported the escape at 01:10 on Saturday. ## Background People who have been arrested are held in police cells until they appear in court. Those accused of murder are normally moved to a correctional facility once a court has remanded them, but they can spend days in police cells while files are prepared. ## Why it matters On the reported figures, most of the men who got out are still at large, and ten of the 11 faced murder charges, so people in Lufwanyama have reason to worry. The families of the victims, including the family of the pupil, are waiting for these cases to reach court, and that cannot happen while the accused are missing. The escape also raises plain questions about how a cell's bars could be cut and what back-up police stations have when the power goes off. ## What happens next Police have not been reported to have said how the three were caught or where the other eight may be, and no action against officers on duty has been announced. Those recaptured could face a further charge of escaping from lawful custody on top of the original charges. Source: News Diggers (Womba Kasela), 3 November 2026, 07:50 (Africa/Lusaka