A prisoner from a French jail managed to escape by hiding in a laundry bag belonging to a cellmate who was released on Friday, July 11. According to CNN, the Director of France’s prison administration, Sébastien Cauwel, told local outlet BFMTV that the prisoner “took advantage” of the other inmate’s release from the Corbas prison near the city of Lyon.
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Inmate Escapes French Prison By Hiding In Laundry Bag Of Released Prisoner
Cauwel reported that the 20-year-old escaped prisoner was still serving several sentences. The authorities were also investigating him in connection with organized crime.
Prison officials found out about the escape on Saturday, the morning after his leave. This has now led to an investigation into how this happened, as Cauwel admitted to an “accumulation of errors.”
Cauwel described this as “an extremely rare event” which was due to “a whole series of serious failures.” The Director then mentioned how Corbas prison is overcrowded, which can lead to oversights.
Corbas prison allegedly has an occupancy rate of around 170%. This has made “the working conditions of our officers more complicated,” said Cauwel.
BFMTV reported that around 1,200 people were detained in the prison as of May 1, 2025. This is despite Corbas prison having a capacity of 678 people.
Unfortunately for the prisoner who thought he got out for good, his freedom didn’t last long. Lyon’s prosecutor’s office revealed that police managed to arrest the man in Sathonay Camp on Monday morning. This was in a city just outside of Lyon in the southeast of France.
“The man who escaped from Corbas remand center was arrested this morning around 6:00 a.m, leaving a cellar in Sathonay Camp,” said the prosecutor’s office in a statement. “No one was injured. His accomplice was not with him and has not yet been arrested.”
Since the escape attempt, officials have opened a new investigation. “The suspect is currently in custody on charges of escape as part of an organized gang and participation in a criminal conspiracy,” the statement added.