Tehran, March 28 (IANS) At least 80 inmates escaped from a prison in Iran's Kurdistan province, it was reported.

The prison break in Saqqez city on Friday took place following a riot that erupted over the fast-grwong novel coronavirus pandemic in the country, Xinhua news agency reported citing state media as saying.

On March 19, at least 20 inmates escaped from a prison in the city of Khorramabad, the capital of Lorestan province.

Iran's judiciary has already freed 85,000 prisoners as a preventive measure against the spread of the novel coronavirus inside jails.

Iran is one of the hardest-hit countries by the novel coronavirus, with the total number of infections reaching 32,332 on Friday, with 2,378 deaths.

--IANS ksk/