Warden of a prison in Hohhot, capital of north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, had been removed from his position after four prisoners escaped last week, local authorities said on Friday.

Zhang Heping, head of the No. 2 Prison in Hohhot, was dismissed on Friday for his "inescapable responsibility in the prison break case," said Wang Lijun, vice head of the prison administrative bureau of Inner Mongolia.

Four prisoners escaped from the prison at around 1 p.m. last Saturday after killing a guard. Police shot dead one and apprehended three others during a 66-hour hunt.

Another four officials of the prison were suspended from their duties, Wang said, adding that more punishment would be handed down as investigation proceeded.

Initial investigation found that two of the prisoners had planned for the escape since last year, and two others joined them in August.

Two of the men were serving suspended death sentences and two were serving life prison terms, local police said earlier, without giving details of their convictions.

The four, aged from 21 to 28, had planned to "make a fortune" after the escape and enjoy a luxurious life, local police said.

Earlier reports said that the four criminals cut off a finger of the jail guard they killed and used his finger print to open the prison doors. But local police said Friday that such reports were fabricated.

The four escaped by opening the doors with the pass of a jail guard they kidnapped, according to the police.

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