GUANGZHOU - Authorities in south China's Guangdong Province said an inmate escaped from prison on Saturday, the country's second jailbreak reported in less than two months.

Chen Dachao, deputy head with the provincial prison management bureau said two inmates in Beijiang Prison of Shaoguan City left the workshop through fire engine access, broke the lock of a door when others were working, and climbed over prison walls for escape at around 8:40 am.

Wu Changgui, one of the inmates, was knocked down by electrified wire netting and recaptured, while another one Li Mengjun got out of the prison, he said.

Preliminary investigation showed that the prison is under renovation. a dilapidated buildings yet to be dismantled obscured visions of the guards.

The 28-year-old fugitive, Li Mengjun, was convicted of robbery in 2006 and is on death reprieve, according to the city's public security bureau.

"The incident exposes loopholes of our prison management," said Chen Dachao, who added the prison management authorities need to beef up security and learn a lesson from this incident.

Police officers are hunting down Li and have promised to issue cash rewards for information leading to his capture.

In early September, three inmates escaped from a detention center and allegedly killed a guard in the northeastern Chinese province of Heilongjiang.

?3 Chinese inmates kill guard, break out of jail