A gang of inmates inside one of the world's most remote prisons were caught making a daring bid for freedom inside a 131-foot-long tunnel they dug – and nobody knew it was there.
According to officials in North Macedonia, eight felons from Idrizovo Penitentiary, which is located on the desolate outskirts of Skopje, had spent two months planning to escape.
Some of those involved were serving life sentences, while some were there on terms of around 10 years.
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But they are now all firmly behind bars after staff at the prison found out about the attempt.
However, what they weren't banking on was finding a man-made 131-foot-long tunnel, three feet deep and 31 inches wide.
It is being reported locally that they used a plastic basket to dig the hole, and an electric light bulb so they could see what they were going.
A spokesman for North Macedonia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs said in a long-winded statement: “In coordination with the National Security Agency, (we) prevented an organised escape from the Idrizovo Penitentiary.
“Namely, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, based on obtained forensic knowledge that a group of at least eight convicted individuals serving sentences at the Idrizovo Penitentiary, convicted of serious criminal offences with sentences ranging from 10 years to life imprisonment, were preparing to escape by digging a tunnel.
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“The Ministry conducted forensic operational activities to verify the information, which was then shared with the Sanctions Execution Directorate.
“After receiving the information, the Sanctions Execution Directorate conducted inspections at the location indicated as a potential tunnel, where they discovered a 40-metre-long tunnel located near the object used for storing coal towards the protective fence behind which the women’s section was located, and in the immediate vicinity of the closed section of the penitentiary, at a depth of about one metre and a diameter of about 80 centimetres, appropriately secured with cross beams and props.”
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The prison is located in a town with a population of just 1,824 people – according to a 2021 census – and most of those work at the prison or Skopje International Airport.
Of those living there, 826 of Macedonians, 747 are Albanians and the rest are either unidentified, Bosniaks, Turks, Romani or Serbs.
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