   |
|
|
|
|
| Four escape from prison on French island of Corsica
AJACCIO, France, Aug 25 (AFP) - Four men awaiting trial in a timeworn prison in Ajaccio, the main city on the French Mediterranean island of Corsica, escaped Monday by sawing through their cell bars, prison officials said. The four had been accused of various crimes including attempted murder and robbery, but were not in any way linked to separatist movements blamed for a string of recent bomb attacks on the troubled island, the officials noted. Adaptive intelligence for a serious advantage: business, investment and technology- BizVantage! After cutting through their cell bars, the four men jumped down to an exterior footbridge and eventually reached the street some 10 meters (33 feet) below by using sheets knotted together to slide down the prison's outer wall. An inquiry has been opened into the breakout at the prison, built 132 years ago in central Ajaccio. In October, the state secretary for justice ministry property, Pierre Bedier, said during a visit to Ajaccio that the jail was "ancient and cramped", promising a new prison would be built on the island in the next five years. Prisoners have escaped from French jails on at least five separate occasions this year, much to the chagrin of the center-right government, which has made the fight against crime a top priority since taking office in 2002. In March, a gang used rocket launchers and heavy weapons to blow open the outer doors of a prison in Fresnes, south of Paris, freeing an Italian national convicted of armed robbery who had escaped from a French prison once before. pr/sst/jah France-prison
|
