Police in North Macedonia were stunned to find this 40m long escape tunnel dug by prisoners.
At least eight inmates had been planning their escape from Idrizovo Prison on the outskirts of Skopje for two months, police said.
The group, they say, consisted of hardened criminals serving sentences ranging from 10 years to life imprisonment.
After officials got wind of their escape plan, they found the tunnel and secured it before anyone in the prison could escape.
The tunnel, they report, was more than a foot deep and 31 inches wide.
Several plastic baskets used to clear soil were found inside, as well as an electric light bulb to illuminate the escape route.
The Ministry of the Interior of North Macedonia said in a statement obtained by Newsflash: “The Ministry of the Interior, the Public Security Bureau and the Department for Combating Organized and Serious Crime, in cooperation with the National Security Agency, have launched a organized escape from Idrizovo prison. .
“Indeed, the Ministry of Interior, based on obtained forensic knowledge that a group of at least eight convicted persons serving sentences in Idrizovo Penitentiary, convicted of serious offenses with sentences ranging from 10 years to life imprisonment, was preparing to escape by digging a tunnel.
“The ministry conducted forensic operational activities to verify the information, which was then shared with the Sanctions Implementation Directorate.
“Upon receiving the information, the Sanctions Enforcement Directorate conducted inspections at the site indicated as a potential tunnel, where they discovered a 40-meter tunnel located near the object used for coal storage in the direction of the protective fence behind which the women’s section was located, and in the immediate vicinity of the closed part of the penitentiary, at a depth of about one meter and a diameter of about 80 centimeters, properly secured with crossbeams and struts.
‘Several plastic baskets tied with ropes were found in the tunnel with which the excavated soil was carried away, and an electrical cable with a lamp used to illuminate the tunnel.
“The Ministry of the Interior, in coordination with the competent public prosecutor’s office, is taking additional measures and activities to clarify the matter.”
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