An Ismailiya misdemeanor court handed on Saturday jail sentences to 19 policemen after they were convicted of “extreme negligence” that allowed six inmates to escape a prison in the Suez Canal governorate of Ismailiya in October.

The defendants received prison terms ranging from one to three years.

Five other defendants received three-year suspended jail terms, while three policemen were acquitted of the charges.

The sentences can still be appealed.

The six inmates broke out of El-Mostaqbal Prison after obtaining weapons smuggled into the facility during visitation hours, according to an investigation by the prosecution.

The ensuing shootout, which started inside the prison and continued out onto the street, resulted in the injury of five policemen and the deaths of a police major and a bystander.