Daring prison break: Quebec inmates escape in hijacked helicopter

Mon, 18 Mar 2013 17:06:00 +0000

SAINT-JEROME, Quebec (AP) — Two Quebec inmates climbed into a hijacked helicopter to make a daring daylight escape from a prison outside Montreal, then led police in a car chase and exchanged gunfire at a rural cabin before they were finally recaptured, authorities said Monday.

Police said the helicopter pilot was held hostage in the Sunday jail-break and was not a suspect. He was treated for shock in hospital.

Quebec provincial police spokesman Benoit Richard said Monday that they had arrested four people about 50 kilometers (30 miles) north of the Saint-Jerome prison from which the inmates escaped. Police said they followed the helicopter until it landed, and then chased a car until it reached a rural cabin.

"When they got out of their vehicle they started shooting at police officers," Richard said.

Two of the suspects then broke into the cabin and the residents fled unharmed.

Two of those arrested Sunday were inmates Benjamin Hudon-Barbeau, 36, and Danny Provencal, 33. Hudon-Barbeau was arrested first and police cornered Provencal later in the evening, after establishing a security perimeter around a building where he had barricaded himself. Richard said Provencal had surrendered peacefully after negotiations continued through the night. Police found one of the other suspects on a highway.

Iraq prison break kills 10 guards

Fri, 28 Sep 2012 11:46:00 +0000

BAGHDAD — Officials say a prison break in central Iraq has killed 10 guards and two inmates and that many prisoners, including suspected al-Qaida fighters, escaped after hours-long clashes with security troops inside the facility.

A spokesman in Salahuddin province says several convicts broke into a prison storeroom in Tikrit late on Thursday night, seized weapons and overpowered prison guards.

Spokesman Mohammed al-Assi says several hours of clashes followed and that scores of prisoners had escaped by Friday morning when security troops regained control of the prison. Tikrit is 130 kilometers (80 miles) north of Baghdad.

A provincial health official, Raed Ibrahim, confirmed that 12 died in the violence.

Prison breaks are common in Iraq and are a big embarrassment to the country's Shiite-led government.

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Daring prison break: Quebec inmates escape in hijacked helicopter

Iraq prison break kills 10 guards