Somebody has been watching too many pirated versions of Prison Break. (is that show even still on?) This is from our neighbors in Western Samoa.

Forty-one machete-armed prisoners have been captured on the bus they hijacked after police in Samoa's capital shot out the tyres.

No one was injured in the drama which saw the prisoners take the bus and head for the government buildings on the Apia waterfront. They intended to protest about conditions at the notorious Tafa'igata Prison.

The Samoa Observer says police opened up with shotguns and rifles in a bid stop the bus reaching the centre of town.

"Never in my wildest dreams have I thought I would see something like this in Samoa," one bystander told the Samoa Observer. "It was like something out of a movie. There was a moving vehicle, there was a police vehicle blocking it and then there were police officers with guns."

The newspaper said at least 15 gunshots were fired.

Bus driver Iti Tuimauga told the Samoa Observer he was on a routine trip when prisoners entered.

"I was turning around at the place I usually turn around when prisoners came on the bus," Mr Tuimauga said.

"Each one of them had a bush knife. They looked like they had been doing some work…

"They weren't threatening me in any way but I wasn't about to mess around with these prisoners," he said.

"They all looked serious and they had knives. They told me not to stop and that's what I did."

Near the village suburb of Pesega police tried stopping the bus.

"But I was told to continue driving which I did," he said.

"When I saw the police pointing their guns at the bus, that's when I became scared."

At Pesega, it took several minutes for police officers to negotiate with prisoners to surrender their bush knives when the bus stopped.

As negotiations were taking place, some prisoners were heard yelling: "We're tired of being treated like animals. We're tired of being fed like animals. We are human beings."

Acting Police Commissioner Lilomaiava Fou Taioalo they had to shot out the tyres.

"It was the only way we could ensure that they are stopped," he said.

After the bus was stopped Lilomaiava said a police negotiator approached the bus and talked the prisoners into ending the hijack peacefully.

"After words were exchanged the police then went on board and escorted them down, the women and children on board were unharmed," he said.

One prisoner remains at large.

Ahhh the Samoan Criminal Justice system at work.

'nuff said