800 escape Nigerian prison

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A police commissioner says about 800 inmates escaped a prison holding Muslim extremists in northern Nigeria during an assault by gunmen.

Bauchi state police commissioner Danlami Yar'Adua says four people died during the sunset attack Tuesday by gunmen suspected to be a part of the radical Boko Haram sect. Yar'Adua says six others remain in critical condition at local hospitals.

Yar'Adua says investigators believe the escapees are hiding in the mountains surrounding the rural pasturelands of the region.

The state capital Bauchi remained calm Wednesday. Paramilitary police stood guard at the prison that was holding suspected members of Boko Haram, a Muslim sect that launched a wave of attacks in July 2009.

- AP