France: Nationwide manhunt as inmate called ‘The Fly’ escapes in armed ambush

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A suspected drug boss nicknamed ‘The Fly’ is at the centre of a nationwide manhunt after escaping from a prison van which was ambushed by four gunmen in northern France. Mohamed Amra, 30, was being transported from a court hearing in Rouen to a secure jail in Evreux when the fatal attack unfolded shortly after 11am on the A154 motorway in Val-de-Reuil in Normandy. Two prison officers were killed, with one leaving behind a five months pregnant wife, with three more guards seriously injured. The escaped prisoner fled alongside the attackers in two vehicles, which were abandoned and found burned a short while later. A police source told Le Parisien that Amra is the head of a narcotics network, and had been jailed for 18 months last week for a series of burglaries. Hundreds of police officers and gendarmes had been mobilised, with president Emmanuel Macron vowing that everything was being done to find the perpetrators. Footage from the scene near the commune of Incarville appeared to show a hooded attacker in all black firing an assault rifle at the prisoner convoy. One of the attackers was injured in retaliatory fire, a prison officer union boss said.

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