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16 April 2007
BRUSSELS – A prisoner escaped from the Lantin prison on Sunday with the help of two accomplices using a hijacked helicopter being flown by a first-time pilot and his instructor.
Two armed men got on board the helicopter at Bierset airport. Once on board they threatened the pilot and instructor with grenades. They commanded the pilot to land in the courtyard of Lantin, where they then picked up Erik Ferdinant, a prisoner serving time for robbery and rape.
The helicopter took off once again and the pilot was forced to land at a site in Juprelle, where the three men got off the aircraft.
The escaped prisoner and his accomplices fled the scene in a car they had parked there. The Liege authorities say all police forces in the region were deployed in search of the three.
This was not the first time that Erik Ferdinant has managed to escape from prison, according to officials.
As of 9 pm last night none of the three men had been found.
[Copyright Expatica News 2007]
Subject: Belgian news