SHIJIAZHUANG - Police still have not captured an escaped prisoner eight days after an intense manhunt but expect to apprehend him soon based on the latest evaluation, said a senior law enforcement official on Monday.

Hundreds of paramilitary and civilian police are engaged in a hard-target search for the fugitive around the city of Shenzhou, where he's believed to be hiding, according to local authorities.

The fugitive, 43-year-old Wang Zhenqing, fled the Hebei Provincial No 3 Prison in the city of Shenzhou, according to local authorities.

No one was harmed in the prison break, and no other inmates escaped, according to the prison administration.

Officers from prison administration, public security and paramilitary police have set checkpoints on main roads and continue to search cornfields where a local villager claimed she spotted a man resembling Wang.

Villagers said the cornfields could easily shelter and feed the fugitive.

Searchers said they had meticulously searched nearly the entire area but found no trace of Wang, according to Jinghua Newspaper.

Some 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 are offering 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.

Local schools have been asked to upgrade security while villagers have been mobilized to patrol around their houses, according to China News Service.

A court sentenced Wang to 10 years in prison for theft in January, according to a statement issued by the prison administration.

Beijing Times?said Wang joined the military in 1988 for a 5-year stint, citing sources from Wang's family.

The prison where Wang was being held has temporarily suspended jail visits, said an official with Department of Justice of Hebei province, adding that the visits will be resumed soon, according to China News Service.

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.

"I'm more scared that the administration has not disclosed ?information. Where did he flee? Why is it so difficult to disclose such information? Information blockade can only trigger public fear," said weibo user Liwuzheng.

The Hebei Provincial No 3 Prison mostly jails inmates of major crimes, according to the prison administration.

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