CASTRIES, St Lucia — St Lucia police this morning appealed to citizens to help provide information that could result in the capture of three prisoners, including two Venezuelan nationals, who escaped from the island’s main prison after armed gunmen stormed the facility late yesterday.

“A special appeal goes out to all members of the public with any information on this breach and the whereabouts of the escaped inmates to contact prison or police officials as a matter of urgency”, the police said in a statement, warning also that escaped prisoners and their accomplices “are considered to be armed and dangerous”.

Law enforcement officials said that three or four heavily armed masked gunmen were able to penetrate three security fences in order to free the Venezuelans who were in jail on drug related charges.

Media reports said that there had been an exchange of gunfire, but no one was reported injured.

In the statement, the police named the three escaped prisoners as 33-year-old Marino Luna, who was serving a four-year jail term; Egardo Boada Redriguez, 29, who was also jailed for four years on cocaine related charges and St Lucian Mohammed Duncan, who is serving a seven year jail term on firearm related charges.

The police said that “an aggressive and wide-spread effort is underway across the island to return the escaped inmates to lawful custody”.

Armed police officers have been deployed along some of the island’s beaches to prevent the escapes leaving the country by boat and the Marine Unit has been placed on high alert.