Report: Olga Uncovers Tunnel under Roumieh Prison

Prison guards at the Roumieh prison have discovered a tunnel under the facility, wide enough to let hundreds of prisoners escape, the Ad Diyar newspaper reported on Tuesday.

After last week's snowstorm dubbed Olga, prison guards were shocked at the immense amounts of water flowing from the prison cells, the daily said.

A maintenance team was rushed to fix the problem as heavy rainfall lashed inside the prison from unknown sources. They found an unfinished two meters wide underground tunnel, the daily added.

Roumieh, the oldest and largest of Lebanon's overcrowded prisons, has witnessed sporadic prison breaks in recent years and escalating riots over the past months as inmates living in poor conditions demand better treatment.

Early this month, security forces seized from two inmates several illegal items, two SIM cards, a spy pen camera and a USB.

Security forces launched in November a wide inspection campaign in Roumieh to confiscate any prohibited items in the possession of inmates including cellphones, sharp objects and drugs.

According to the Ad Diyar, guards at Roumieh have been helping Salafist and extermist inmates escape in return for money.