Sunday, December 26 2004 15:07 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Colombo: At least 300 prisoners escaped from a high-security jail in southern Sri Lanka today (Dec 26, 2004) after it was destroyed by tidal waves that killed more than 400 people and left many more missing, police said.

The prison in Matara, 160 kilometres south of the capital, Colombo, was battered by the waves and the inmates took advantage of the natural disaster to flee, a police official said.

"About 300 inmates have escaped," the official said. "We don't know if there were any casualties at the prison after it was inundated by sea water."

The Matara prison is located within a 16th-century Dutch-built fort, which was several metres under water.

At least 406 people were killed in the tidal waves that smashed into the palm-fringed island. Many others were missing. The tidal waves were triggered by a powerful earthquake that hit an island off Indonesia early today.