Eight prisoners have died in a collapsed tunnel and 32 others are still at large after one of the most daring escape attempts in recent memory from the sprawling Sao Paulo State Penitentiary in Brazil.
"The numbers we have now show 87 prisoners attempted to escape through a tunnel during visiting hours on Sunday afternoon," a state penitentiary spokeswoman said today.
She said eight died in the attempt when the tunnel collapsed and 47 have been recaptured so far. "Those numbers may still change as more are recaptured and excavation work continues in the area of the collapsed tunnel," she said.
Guards at the penitentiary, located in an area of working class homes and small businesses, said the tunnel was apparently dug by accomplices from somewhere outside the prison walls. They said it connected a local sewer system to the inside of the prison complex.
In some places, the 120-metre (131 yard) tunnel was shored up by cement blocks and included drains and a makeshift ventilation system.
Police were tipped off about the escape attempt when local residents saw mud and sewage-soaked prisoners crawling, one after the other, out of a manhole in the middle of a main avenue.
Police captured 29 of the would-be escapees as they emerged from manholes before the tunnel collapsed. Another 15 were captured as they wandered around local streets or sought refuge in homes.
AP