Two inmates re-arrested after escaping detention unit

Greek police launched a manhunt on Monday for two Albanian inmates, who were among four that escaped from a police detention unit on Petrou Ralli Street in Athens early Monday at around 4 a.m.

One of the escapees was arrested a few hours later in the area of Rendi, southern Athens. A second one was arrested on Monday afternoon in Votanikos.

According to reports, the four prisoners called out to two guards from their cell, saying that one of them was feeling unwell. When the guards entered the cell, the inmates used a makeshift knife to immobilize them and ran out.

They then managed to disarm an officer sitting in a police car in the underground level of the detention unit and used the vehicle to drive up to the entrance gate, where they forced a guard to let them drive out while threatening him with the gun.

They also took the entrance guard’s gun. The four men had been transferred to the detention unit on Petrou Ralli in connection with attacks on other inmates at Attica’s high-security Korydallos Prison.

Police said the escapees, who were convicted on charges including armed robbery and murder, are extremely dangerous.