The more than 100 inmates who escaped this week from a prison in the Mexican border city of Piedras Negras walked out through the main gate, a senior official said Wednesday.

The escapees “did not leave through the tunnel,” Coahuila state Public Safety Secretary Jorge Luis Moran said, contradicting his own earlier statements.

Statements from three fugitives who were recaptured Wednesday indicate the mass escape took place via the prison gate, the secretary said, adding that “there was a betrayal by (prison) personnel.”