Seventeen inmates break out of Peru mountain jail

LIMA: A group of 17 inmates considered to be highly dangerous broke out of a prison high in Peru's Andes on Sunday, sending authorities scrambling to track them down.

Justice Minister Juan Jimenez told the Andina news agency the band of mostly convicted kidnappers escaped with weapons from Challapalca prison near the Bolivian border, about 4,000 meters (13,100 feet) above sea level.

About 200 police officers were ordered to hunt down the escapees in Puno department, officials said.