PARIS: A major manhunt was launched by the French authorities on Tuesday (local time) after a group of hooded armed men ambushed a prison convoy in Normandy to free an inmate, killing two guards and leaving three others injured, CNN reported.
The incident, took place as the vehicle was transporting a prisoner from court to a nearby prison, French Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti said. Video from the scene showed a black SUV in flames that appeared to have crashed into a prison van near a motorway toll booth. Two hooded individuals could be purportedly seen carrying long rifles.
🚨🇫🇷 Drug lord Mohammed “The Fly” Amra escaped after men armed with Kalashnikovs attacked a prison van in Normandy, France
3 prison guards were killed, 3 seriously wounded
Europe is a third world continent pic.twitter.com/EvVvUNLAIZ
— Kreately.in (@KreatelyMedia) May 15, 2024
Notably, such violent incidents are considered extremely rare for that part of northern France, according to CNN. Dupond-Moretti told reporters that the incident was the first time a French prison employee had died while working since 1992. He added that two of those hurt sustained life-threatening injuries.
French President Emmanuel Macron condemned the incident and said in a post on X that “every effort is being made to find the perpetrators of this crime so that justice can be done in the name of the French people.”
L’attaque de ce matin, qui a coûté la vie à des agents de l’administration pénitentiaire, est un choc pour nous tous.
La Nation se tient aux côtés des familles, des blessés et de leurs collègues.
Tout est mis en œuvre pour retrouver les auteurs de ce crime…
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) May 14, 2024
“Everything, and I mean everything, will be done to find the perpetrators of this heinous crime. These are people for whom life means nothing. They will be arrested. They will be tried. And they will be punished for the crime they committed”, Dupond-Moretti said.
The national police informed in a statement on X that the gunmen are still at large. A manhunt is under way to find suspects and the inmate.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said on X he has mobilized the national gendarmerie and “several hundred” police officers for the manhunt. Authorities on the scene are setting up roadblocks and establishing a perimeter, CNN reported citing BFMTV.
The escaped inmate has been identified as Mohamed Amra. According to the Paris state prosecutor Laure Beccuau, he is “very well known to the justice system”, having sustained a total of 13 convictions, most of which were related to incidences of theft with aggravated offenses.
Amra had been incarcerated in various facilities since January 2022. On May 10, Amra was found guilty on the charge of burglary by a court in Evreux and was also under investigation in Marseille for a kidnap that led to a death, Beccuau said.
Later on Tuesday, the French police said they had discovered two burnt-out vehicles used by the attackers. The Paris state prosecutor told a press conference that the two vehicles were found in Houtteville and in Gauville-le-Campagne, two towns in the department of Eure where the attack took place near the Incarville tollbooth shortly before 11 am (local time), as reported by CNN. She said that one of the vehicles was used to ram the police van during the attack, while the other was following the van and carrying the two gunmen.
Forensic experts have been carrying out “meticulous tests” at the scene of the crime, and police had been studying video of the attack filmed by eyewitnesses and posted on social media, Beccuau said. The prosecutor said the authorities’ priority now is getting to the bottom of this “outburst of violence”, CNN reported. (ANI)