SHIJIAZHUANG - Chinese police have captured a prison inmate who broke out the facility and went into hiding after a 14-day intense manhunt, police authorities said Saturday.

Wang Zhenqing, the 43-year-old escaped inmate, was caught by police in his home county of Dancheng, Henan province, at Saturday dawn, police said. Wang fled a prison in the neigboring province of Hebei province on September 11, prompting hundreds of police to the manhunt, police added.

Wang was sentenced to ten years in prison this January over theft.

Previous press reports alleged that Wang had avoided four checkpoints and scaled the 5-meter-high prison fence with a rope made of woven bags, though prison administrators didn't confirm these accounts.

Local authorities had offered a reward of 100,000 yuan ($15,600) for individuals who capture the fugitive, while 20,000 yuan will be rewarded to anyone who provides information that leads to Wang's arrest.

The prison break has sparked a heated discussion on weibo.com, a popular twitter-like microblogging site in China. Weibo users questioned the administration of prisons and demanded authorities disclose more information about the prison break.

Last prison break in Hebei was reported in 2008. A fugitive stole a vehicle and drove through the prison fence. He was captured six days later.