A manhunt is underway in France after a van attack left two prison officers dead.
The prison van was ambushed by two vehicles at 9:00 GMT, near a toll booth on the A154 motorway near Rouen, Normandy.
The ambush occurred during a prisoner transfer between the court house and prison and also left three officers seriously injured.
French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said: “All means are being employed to find these criminals. On my instructions, several hundred police officers and gendarmes have been mobilised.”
Map locates key points in an assault on a prison van transport in France that resulted in 2 officers killed and an inmate escape. (AP Digital Embed)
French president Emmanuel Macron says the attack this morning is a “shock to us all”, adding “everything is being done to find the perpetrators of this crime.”
The Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti said the attackers “didn’t hesitate to shoot the prison officers using heavy weapons”.
He adds: “My thoughts are with the other three seriously wounded officers who are now hospitalised.
“Everything – and I mean everything – will be put in place to find the perpetrators of this vile crime. [The perpetrators] are people for whom life has no value. They will be found and punished in a way proportionate to the crime.”
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HeadlineFrench manhunt underway after two prison officers killed in van attack
Short HeadlineManhunt in France as two prison officers killed
StandfirstThe prison van was ambushed in the morning and also left three officers seriously injured.
A manhunt is underway in France after a van attack left two prison officers dead.
The prison van was ambushed by two vehicles at 9:00 GMT, near a toll booth on the A154 motorway near Rouen, Normandy.
The ambush occurred during a prisoner transfer between the court house and prison and also left three officers seriously injured.
French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said: “All means are being employed to find these criminals. On my instructions, several hundred police officers and gendarmes have been mobilised.”
Map locates key points in an assault on a prison van transport in France that resulted in 2 officers killed and an inmate escape. (AP Digital Embed)
French president Emmanuel Macron says the attack this morning is a “shock to us all”, adding “everything is being done to find the perpetrators of this crime.”
The Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti said the attackers “didn’t hesitate to shoot the prison officers using heavy weapons”.
He adds: “My thoughts are with the other three seriously wounded officers who are now hospitalised.
“Everything – and I mean everything – will be put in place to find the perpetrators of this vile crime. [The perpetrators] are people for whom life has no value. They will be found and punished in a way proportionate to the crime.”
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