Nearly half the detainees who escaped a flooded jail at the height of Typhoon Haiyan have returned, many after helping their families deal with the storm's aftermath.
Nearly 600 detainees were at the Leyte provincial jail, which houses people who are on trial, when the typhoon flattened dozens of towns across the islands of Leyte and Samar.
Winds ripped the roof off the prison, while gushing water sent flash floods into the isolated complex, near the ruined coastal town of Palo.
Prison guard Fidencio Abrea told AFP all the detainees escaped as head-high water forced them to clamber up the prison grills and then over into stormy freedom, with no roof to contain them.
Abrea said the guards were sheltering from the storm, so did not notice the mass escape.
News that makes sense
Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.
But he said 251 prisoners had come back.
Returnees interviewed by AFP said their immediate concern after escaping was to check on or help loved ones, and that they returned because they did not want to ruin their chances of being exonerated at trial.
"I returned because I want my freedom to be legal," said Renato Comora, 47, on trial for murder.
Comora said he initially went to his wife and six children in the town of Dulag, about 30 kilometres away.
"My family is OK, there are no casualties but my house is totally destroyed," he said from inside the prison compound.
"I just wanted to make sure that my family was safe. After that, I returned on my own because I don't want to live the life of a fugitive."
Escapee Oldarico Raquel, 36, on trial for attempted murder, helped put up makeshift shelters for his family and relatives before returning to the jail, where he and 17 other inmates were packed in one cell.
Danilo Tejones, 51, on trial for rape, said he returned because he was innocent.
"After escaping, I helped my family harvest rice for three days before I returned," he said.
Thirty-two-year-old Jessie Abalos said he escaped so he could help his 60-year-old mother rebuild their home in the town of Tolosa.
"Our house has been blown away. So I helped my mother put up a temporary shelter, then I returned," said Abalos, on trial for drugs charges.
Jail officials said prisoners were returning directly to the compound or just presenting themselves to a prison van that drives around the disaster zones looking for the detainees.
