French police hunt gangster after dramatic prison break
Source: AFP |
April 15, 2013, Monday
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FRENCH police were on a manhunt yesterday for a notorious armed robber who staged a dramatic prison break in northern France after briefly taking several guards hostage.
Lille prosecutor Frederic Fevre said about 100 investigators were involved in the hunt for Redoine Faid, known for brazen attacks on cash-in-transit vehicles, after he blasted his way out of a jail in the northern town of Sequedin on Saturday.
Faid, a 40-year-old who risked a heavy new sentence over the 2010 death of a policewoman, used explosives to blast through five prison doors and took hostage four prison guards, who were later released.
Investigators were yesterday trying to determine how Faid had managed to obtain explosives inside the prison and whether he had any accomplices.
"A thorough investigation has begun. Obviously he had one or more accomplices. The investigators will now determine how he was able to obtain explosives and a weapon," Fevre said.
Yesterday police detained a brother who had regularly visited Faid in prison for questioning, Fevre said.
"No potential lead can be ignored. The doors must be closed one after the other," he said, adding that the brother had been at the prison on Saturday to meet Faid but had not been able to do so.
French officials have warned that Faid is considered armed and "especially dangerous".
France has issued a Europe-wide arrest warrant and called in Interpol for help, amid fears he may have already fled across the border into Belgium.
Police have said the breakout was planned with meticulous precision and authorities have insisted there was no fault on the part of prison workers.
A getaway car used in the escape was found burnt in Lille, where Faid is believed to have switched to a second vehicle. Of the four hostages he escaped with, one was released just outside the prison, another a few hundred meters away and the last two along the highway.
Faid is known for co-authoring two books after a decade in prison for robbery, about his delinquent youth and rise as a criminal in Paris's impoverished suburbs.
Lille prosecutor Frederic Fevre said about 100 investigators were involved in the hunt for Redoine Faid, known for brazen attacks on cash-in-transit vehicles, after he blasted his way out of a jail in the northern town of Sequedin on Saturday.
Faid, a 40-year-old who risked a heavy new sentence over the 2010 death of a policewoman, used explosives to blast through five prison doors and took hostage four prison guards, who were later released.
Investigators were yesterday trying to determine how Faid had managed to obtain explosives inside the prison and whether he had any accomplices.
"A thorough investigation has begun. Obviously he had one or more accomplices. The investigators will now determine how he was able to obtain explosives and a weapon," Fevre said.
Yesterday police detained a brother who had regularly visited Faid in prison for questioning, Fevre said.
"No potential lead can be ignored. The doors must be closed one after the other," he said, adding that the brother had been at the prison on Saturday to meet Faid but had not been able to do so.
French officials have warned that Faid is considered armed and "especially dangerous".
France has issued a Europe-wide arrest warrant and called in Interpol for help, amid fears he may have already fled across the border into Belgium.
Police have said the breakout was planned with meticulous precision and authorities have insisted there was no fault on the part of prison workers.
A getaway car used in the escape was found burnt in Lille, where Faid is believed to have switched to a second vehicle. Of the four hostages he escaped with, one was released just outside the prison, another a few hundred meters away and the last two along the highway.
Faid is known for co-authoring two books after a decade in prison for robbery, about his delinquent youth and rise as a criminal in Paris's impoverished suburbs.
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