Two French prison officers killed as inmate escapes from hijacked van outside Paris
Two prison officers have been killed and three others injured by pump-action rifle fire after an attack on their van carrying an inmate who is now on the run.
The van was transporting the prisoner between Rouen and Evreux when it was attacked at the Incarville toll plaza, say French reports citing police sources.
Police have launched a manhunt after the attack at the Inarville toll on the A154 motorway in Val-de-Reuil in the Eure department, Normandy, shortly after 11am, say reports.
Eric Dupond-Moretti, the French justice minister, posted on X, formerly Twitter: “A prison convoy was attacked in Eure. Two of our prison officers have died, three are seriously injured.
“All my thoughts are with the victims, their families and their colleagues.”
A source told AFP that the officers “were killed by pump-action rifle fire when a van carrying a prisoner was attacked at around 11am with a ram car at the Incarville toll plaza in the Eure department”.
The prisoner has a conviction for attempted murder, according to Le Parisien. In “circumstances unknown at this stage”, the prison administration van was attacked by four armed men in two vehicles, it reported.
The assailants arrived in two cars, one of which, a white Audi A5, has since been found burnt out in the commune of Vatteville. The second, a BMW 5 series, fled in the direction of Louviers and Evreux, Le Figaro reported.
Helicopters were seen attempting to locate the suspects. Local gendarmes and officers from an elite GIGN swat team are also in the area.
The A154 motorway has been closed in the direction Évreux-Louviers at Junction 4 Louviers centre for an “indefinite period”, according to traffic information site Bison Futé.
