Prisoners escape from Rebibbia jail

Two prisoners escaped from Rebibbia prison in north-east Rome just before midnight on 11 February.

A manhunt is underway for the two inmates who sawed through the bars of their third-floor cell and descended using sheets tied together.

The prisoners were both serving time for armed robbery and were housed in the prison's so-called terza casa (third house) where inmates receive treatment for drug addiction.

It is the first time that anyone has escaped from that section of the prison, according to the Lazio branch of FNS CISL, the trade union that represents prison guards.