18 December 2008 :

three prisoners sentenced to death escaped Malas prison in the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh after attacking a prison guard, an official Saudi source said. Most prison guards were busy checking visitors to the prison during the first day of the Muslim feast of Eid al-Adha. The three prisoners seized the opportunity to escape after threatening a prison guard with a knife. The brother of one of the escaped prisoners was waiting for them in a car outside the prison, the Saudi Arabian al-Sabq online paper reported. One of the escaped prisoners, who suffered from hypertension and diabetes, fell before he reached the gate, the paper said.