SHENYANG, Oct. 7 (Xinhua) - Several officials in northeast China have been punished after two inmates broke free.

The warden of the No. 3 Prison in the city of Lingyuan in Liaoning Province has been terminated from his position and ordered to cooperate with the investigation. Another official in direct charge of prison supervision has been suspended from his post while the investigation is underway. Meanwhile, an official in charge of stability in the prison has also been suspended from work.

The two prisoners are 33-year-old Wang Lei and 39-year-old Zhang Guilin. They escaped on Thursday and were caught by police on Saturday in north China's Hebei Province.

Wang was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve for kidnapping. In December 2017, it was commuted to a life sentence. Zhang was serving a life sentence for robbery.