North Cotabato jail escapee killed in police manhunt operation

PIKIT, North Cotabato -- One of three hunted escapees from the North Cotabato provincial jail died on Thursday night, barely 24 hours after bolting out from the prison facility in Kidapawan City, after resisting arrest from pursuing police authorities here.Sr. Insp. Sindatu Karim, Pikit police chief, identified the fatality as Mama Makalati aka Marco, who together with Esmael Nasser aka Derbi, and Musanip Kusin, bolted prison on Wednesday dawn.Acting on a tip, Karim said he and his men swooped down on an abandoned lot in the boundary of Barangays Tinutulan and Monoguan around 830 p.m. Thursday and chanced upon the fugitive. We persuaded him to surrender but he refuse to yield to us,” Karim said.Instead, Karim said the cornered escapee attacked them with a bolo, forcing them to shoot him. Our intention was just to maim him (Makalati) but was fatally hit by a bullet in the process,” he said.Karim said Makalati was alone at the time of the incident.Two other escapees, Nasser and Kusin, both remain at-large.