Law enforcement officers with bloodhounds stand guard at the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, N.Y.
Hundreds of law enforcement officers searched through the night for two convicted murderers who used power tools to cut through steam pipes and escaped from a maximum-security New York state prison by climbing through a manhole blocks away.
The U.S. Marshals Service and FBI joined the hunt for Richard Matt and David Sweat, who were discovered missing from their beds — which were filled with clothes to appear as though they were sleeping — Saturday morning in the Clinton Correctional Facility.
Officials said it was the first escape from the maximum-security portion of the prison, which was built in 1865.
Roadblocks were set up in the area, which is about 32 kilometers from the Canadian border, and bloodhounds and helicopters were being used to search for the men, officials said.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo described the two as extremely dangerous. “It’s very important that we locate these individuals,” he said.
Canadian broadcaster CTV News reported that officials were concerned the men may attempt to enter Canada through Ontario or Quebec, and safety alerts were broadcast to police officers in the Greater Toronto Area.
Sweat, 34, is serving a sentence of life without parole after he was convicted of first-degree murder for killing a sheriff’s deputy in July 2002. Matt, 48, is serving a sentence of 25 years to life for the kidnapping, dismemberment and killing of his former boss in 1997. He was returned to the U.S. from Mexico, where he had fled to and late was arrested for fatally stabbing another American outside a bar in a robbery attempt.
The two men’s adjoining cells were empty during a morning check, said Anthony Annuci, the acting state corrections commissioner.
“A search revealed that there was a hole cut out of the back of the cell through which these inmates escaped,” Annucci said. “They went onto a catwalk which is about six stories high. We estimate they climbed down and had power tools and were able to get out to this facility through tunnels, cutting away at several spots.”
Investigators were looking into how the men acquired the tools, and whether any were missing from contractors at the prison. AP
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