All 18 Kurds who broke out of a prison by digging a 70-metre tunnel in southeastern Turkey have been caught, officials said.

The escapees, who were either convicted of, or charged with having ties to the illegal Kurdistan Workers Party escaped on Wednesday from a prison outside the city of Bingol.

Security forces captured them in a mountainous, wooded area near the village of Ortacanak, some 16km from Bingol, officials said. — Reuters