SAN SALVADOR – Authorities prevented a possible mass escape by imprisoned gang members this week when they discovered a tunnel dug beneath a prison in a northwestern Salvadoran municipality, the head of the prison service said.
The Central Prison’s director, Gilbert Caceres, told reporters that the tunnel was discovered Dec. 3 in the Quezaltepeque prison during a search begun after a tip was received about the existence of an escape plan.
The official confirmed that the tunnel was 50 centimeters in diameter, 1.95 meters deep and about 9 meters long. Caceres said that the tunnel would have allowed about 50 or 60 inmates to flee the prison.
