Convicted killers escape from N.Y. prison near border

Two convicted murderers used power tools to cut through steel pipes at a maximum-security prison near the U.S./Canada border and escape through a manhole, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Saturday.

"It was an elaborate plot," Cuomo said after joining law enforcement authorities to retrace the fugitives' escape route from the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, N.Y., a small town about 30 kilometres from the border, and about 85 kilometres from Montreal. 

He said Richard Matt, 48, and David Sweat, 34, "are two dangerous individuals."

Sweat is serving a sentence of life without parole after he was convicted of first-degree murder for killing a Broome County sheriff's deputy in 2002. Matt is serving a sentence of 25 years to life for kidnapping a man and beating him to death in 1997.

The two men's adjoining cells were empty during a morning check, said Anthony Annuci, the acting state corrections commissioner.

"A search revealed that there was a hole cut out of the back of the cell through which these inmates escaped," Annucci said. "They went onto a catwalk which is about 6 storeys high. We estimate they climbed down and had power tools and were able to get out to this facility through tunnels, cutting away at several spots."

Authorities said there are many questions including how the men acquired the tools. Annucci said prison authorities are checking to see whether any power tools are missing from contractors at the facility.

Maj. Charles E. Guess of the state police said more than 200 officers from multiple agencies are searching for the inmates. The search includes bloodhounds and aerial surveillance, he said.

Cuomo said the prison break was the first escape from the maximum-security portion of the facility since it was built in 1865.

The prison is about 30 kilometres from the Canadian border. Roadblocks were set up in the area, WIRY-AM reported.

Sweat is a white male with brown hair and green eyes, weighing 165 pounds, police said. He has tattoos on his left bicep and his right fingers.

Matt is a white male with black hair and hazel eyes, according to police. He weighs 210 pounds and has tattoos including "Mexico Forever" on his back, a heart on his chest and left shoulder and a U.S. Marine Corps insignia on his right shoulder.