French prisoner escapes by hiding in sprung cellmate’s laundry bag: ‘Accumulation of errors’

Someone should be sacked for this.

An inmate in France is on the loose after escaping prison by crawling into the laundry bag of his cellmate, who had recently been released.

The 20-year-old prisoner escaped from Corbas prison in Lyon, France and has yet to be recaptured. REUTERS

The 20-year-old man, whose identity was not released, “took advantage” of his fellow inmate to free himself from confinement, French prison administration director Sébastien Cauwel told BFMTV.

The escapee was under investigation for a number of crimes, including alleged connections with organized crime, the prison administration said in a statement to AFP.

Corbas is notoriously overcrowded — housing around 170% of its capacity of 678 inmates. AP

Cauwel said he “immediately requested an internal investigation” after the prisoner flew the coop, which wasn’t noticed by staff at the Corbas prison for around 24 hours.

Corbas, located in Lyon, is severely overcrowded — housing around 1,200 inmates — 170% of its capacity for 678, officials said, which Cauwel admitted “makes working conditions more difficult for our staff.”

He told the outlet the incident was the result of “an accumulation of errors,” and a “series of serious malfunctions,” which he promised the investigation would bring to light.

“This is an extremely rare event that we have never experienced in this administration,” he said.