Alert 40 minutes after escape
The prisoners' escape was not officially reported to the authorities until 40 minutes after it had taken place, when all the prisoners were returning to their cells and five men were found missing. “An investigation is ongoing into the internal circumstances that led to this outcome. Something failed,” said Rui Abrunhosa Gonçalves, from the General Directorate of Reintegration and Penitentiary Services.
The Portuguese unions denounce the lack of resources and the decrepit state of the penitentiary environment in the country. “The Judeus Valley Prison was built in the 1960s and the outer walls had to be electrified,” the prison official said of prison security. But when the electrification was activated, the power in the prison went out.
Three men helped them
The escape of the prisoners from Vale de Judeus, in Alcoentre, was “very well prepared” with “details thought out down to the smallest detail”. However, in reality, even though the five men had “outside help” from three people who police are still trying to identify, the operation appears to have been quite simple. The prisoners simply used a ladder to climb the prison wall…