Three French convicts flee by helicopter

Three prisoners described as "dangerous" escaped from a jail at Draguignan in the south of France this morning by helicopter, …

Three prisoners described as "dangerous" escaped from a jail at Draguignan in the south of France this morning by helicopter, the prison authorities said.

The helicopter landed in the prison grounds between the sports field and the exercise yard around 9 a.m. in an area unprotected byoverhead netting.

The convicts who escaped are classed as "dangerous," the prison's director Charles Petitpas said.

Local authorities said the three had an accomplice who took the pilot hostage but let him go when the helicopter landed 60 kilometres (37 miles) away at Auribeau-sur-Siagne, where a getaway car was waiting.

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AFP