German police hunt for prisoner after daring rooftop escape

A 35-year-old prisoner staged a dramatic escape from a jail in western Germany early on Sunday, apparently scaling the outside of the building before fleeing across the roof.

The man escaped from Duisburg-Hamborn prison at around 3:20 am (0120 GMT), the Justice Ministry of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia said.

He remained at large on Sunday afternoon, with authorities saying there was still no trace of him.

Investigators have since discovered that the prisoner had created a hiding place beneath the linoleum floor of his cell that had apparently gone unnoticed during cell inspections, a ministry spokesman said.

No tools were found in the concealed space.

Authorities believe the man sawed through a bar covering the window of his third-floor cell, which faced an inner courtyard. He then used his cell table as a lever to force open a second, finer security grille covering the window.

The prisoner squeezed through the narrow opening and apparently climbed the facade on the courtyard side of the building to reach the roof. He then made his way down the outside of the prison by means that remain unclear, the spokesman said.

"Today's escape is absolutely unacceptable. The top priority now is the swift apprehension of the fugitive remand prisoner," North Rhine-Westphalia Justice Minister Benjamin Limbach said.

"We will fully establish how this security breach was possible so that the necessary consequences can be taken immediately based on the findings," Limbach said.

The man had been remanded in custody on suspicion of theft since February 10. At the end of May, he was sentenced to six years in prison for two residential burglaries involving substantial losses, although the verdict is not yet legally binding.

According to information from judicial sources, he is accused of stealing valuable jewellery as well as more than €200,000 in cash.