A 20-year-old inmate escaped from Corbas Prison near Lyon, France, by concealing himself inside the luggage of a cellmate who was being released, according to French media reports.
The escape took place on Friday but went unnoticed by prison staff for nearly 24 hours, reportedly due to overcrowding at the facility. The prison, located in southeastern France, is operating at 170% capacity, which officials say has significantly strained working conditions.
“This is an extremely rare incident—unprecedented in our administration—that highlights a series of serious failures,” said Sébastien Cauwel, the prison’s director, in a statement to BFMTV. He acknowledged an “accumulation of errors” that allowed the escape to happen.
The fugitive, who remains at large, was serving multiple sentences and is also under investigation for ties to organized crime. French judicial authorities have launched an inquiry into whether the escape was part of a coordinated criminal plot.
An internal investigation is now underway, and Lyon prosecutors have opened a separate probe into the escape.
