Photo of the three inmates. [people.com.cn]

BEIJING - Police in Northeast China's Heilongjiang province are offering cash rewards for clues leading to the arrest of three inmates, who escaped in a rare jailbreak after killing a guard early Tuesday morning, according to a warrant released by the public security authorities.

The three inmates escaped from a jail at Yanshou county – about 2-hour-drive to the capital city Harbin – at 6 am Tuesday, after killing a guard, according to a report on the website of the Communist Party's flagship newspaper People's Daily.

Armed police are searching for the fugitives, who don't have weapons.

One of the men, 50-year-old Gao Yulun, had been sentenced to death, the report said. The other two, 35-year-old Wang Damin and 29-year-old Li Haiwei, were charged, respectively, with assault leading to death and murder, although it wasn't clear whether they had gone on trial yet.

The three donned police jackets and shirts as they left the jail, the report said.

Chinese jails and prisons are run along strict lines and escapes are extremely rare.

Police earlier offered cash rewards for clues leading to the arrest of three inmates, according to a warrant released by the provincial public security bureau in Heilongjiang.

A reward of 100,000 yuan (about $16,200) will be offered to any whistleblower with information that helps capture an escapee, said the provincial bureau.