Wild Prison Van Ambush Sets Inmate Free and Kills 2 Officers

At least two prison officers were killed and three others seriously injured in an ambush on a prison van in northwestern France on Tuesday morning, officials say, with local reports suggesting that an inmate escaped during the attack.

The van was attacked at around 11 a.m. near a highway tollbooth in the Eure department of the Normandy region. French Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti confirmed that at least two officers had been killed, adding that he would immediately convene his ministry’s crisis unit.

According to BFMTV, the inmate who escaped had appeared in court on Tuesday morning on an attempted homicide charge and was being transferred back to a prison in the town of Évreux when the van was attacked by armed men.

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