French police arrest one prisoner after dramatic bed-sheet prison break, hunt continues for second

France on Friday caught one of two detainees who used bed sheets to escape from prison a day earlier after sawing through the bars of their cell, a prosecutor said.

The man was arrested south of Dijon, where the jailbreak occurred, said the eastern city’s prosecutor, Olivier Caracotch.He said the person caught was thought to be the older of the pair, a 32-year-old man accused of violence against a partner.That would mean a 19-year-old suspected of attempted murder was still on the run.

Interior Minister Laurent Nunez congratulated police for having nabbed “one of the two individuals who escaped yesterday from the Dijon detention centre”, in a message on X.

Guards noticed the two men had fled on Thursday before dawn.

The 32-year-old man had left a message in his cell, saying he had been held for “too long”, the prosecutor has said. It was not immediately clear for how long he had been held.

France has some of the worst prison overcrowding in Europe, and staff unions have complained the state is neglecting normal jails as it moves narco criminals into new supermax prisons.

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Dijon prison, built in 1853, is in poor condition, with 311 inmates for 180 places, according to the justice ministry.

The jailbreak comes after thieves broke into the Louvre museum in Paris in broad daylight last month, making off with priceless imperial jewels.

The investigation is ongoing, with several people arrested and charged in the case.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Firstpost staff.)