Prisoner Serving Multiple Sentences Escapes Jail by Hiding in Fellow Cellmate's Luggage as He's Released

A man escaped from prison as his cellmate was being released by hiding in his bag — and officials are still searching for him.

According to reports from CNN, the BBC and CBS News, Sébastien Cauwel, the director of France’s prison administration, told local outlet BFMTV on Sunday, July 13, that the man “took advantage” of his cellmate’s release from the Corbas prison, located near the southeastern French city of Lyon.

Prison officials believe the man — a 20-year-old who was serving multiple sentences — escaped on Friday, July 11, and they only noticed that he was gone the following morning, Cauwel said.

BFMTV reported that the man’s cellmate had completed his sentence and was leaving the prison when the escapee got inside his laundry bag.

“This is an extremely rare event that we have never seen in this administration and which clearly shows a whole series of serious failures,” Cauwel said, calling the incident an “accumulation of errors.”

Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported that the man was also under investigation in a case connected to organized crime, and local investigators were looking into his escape as “part of an organized gang and criminal conspiracy,” per the BBC.

Last month, the Lyon Bar Association raised concerns about overcrowding at the Lyon-Corbas prison, the BBC reported, and Cauwel said that the prison currently has an occupancy rate of 170%.

“That makes the working conditions of our officers more complicated,” Cauwel said.

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Back in May, BFMTV reported that about 1,200 people were detained in the prison, which has a capacity for 678 inmates.

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CNN reported that a similar incident took place last year, when another French prisoner escaped after armed men ambushed a prison convoy transporting him to a jail in Normandy.

Reuters reported at the time that the escapee, Mohamed Amra — who has been nicknamed “The Fly” — was arrested again in Romania in February 2025.