The suspected drugs boss, nicknamed “La Mouche”, or “The Fly”, was being transported from a court hearing in Rouen to a secure jail in Evreux when his prison van was ambushed by four armed attackers.
The assailants, armed with sub-machine guns, killed two prison officers, seriously injured three others and sprung Amra shortly after 11am local time on the A154 motorway in Val-de-Reuil in Normandy.
French justice minister Eric Dupond-Moretti said guards Fabrice Moello, a 52-year-old father of two who had worked in the prison service for nearly 30 years, and Arnaud Garcia, a 35year-old whose wife is five months pregnant, both from Caen, were “slaughtered like dogs by men for whom life means nothing”.
Vowing the gang will be caught, prime minister Gabriel Attal said in parliament, to applause from lawmakers: “We are tracking you, we will find you and we will punish you. They will pay for what they have done.”
This story is from the May 16, 2024 edition of The Independent.
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This story is from the May 16, 2024 edition of The Independent.
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