'Incomplete' Escape Tunnel Discovered in Roumieh

Authorities have foiled a plot by inmates to escape through a tunnel from Roumieh prison, the state-run National News Agency and other media outlets reported on Tuesday.

But in a statement issued later on Tuesday, the Directorate General of Internal Security Forces said an “incomplete tunnel” was discovered and that a probe was launched to determine if the tunnel was new or old.

“During a patrol by Lebanese army commandos around the outer fence of the central prison of Roumieh, they discovered a 3-meter-deep hole under the base of the load-bearing wall of one of the yards of Ward D. The hole leads to one of the workshops, where a crust of cement with a 150-centimeter diameter was found – which constitutes an incomplete tunnel,” said an ISF statement.

In the wake of the discovery, “State Commissioner to the Military Court Judge Dany al-Zhenni arrived at Roumieh prison and examined the locations of the two holes, ordering an investigation,” the statement added.

“It turned out that the cement crust is old and dates back to the period that witnessed riots around two years ago. As to the external hole, the needed specimens were taken and the analysis will determine when the hole was dug,” said the statement.

Earlier on Tuesday, NNA said guards found the tunnel after discovering some digging activity for a passageway that could have helped the prisoners go out of the facility.

Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3) said however that an army patrol found the other end of the tunnel outside the prison.

LBCI TV reported that a three-meter tunnel was dug from outside the prison and led to bloc D of the juvenile building.

A massive escape attempt from Roumieh, the largest detention facility, was thwarted last month after guards found ropes linking the observation tower to the facility's outer wall.

The inmates had lowered four 17-meter ropes from the tower to the outer wall of the building where convicts are incarcerated.

Several scandals erupted last year after guards thwarted various attempts by Fatah al-Islam inmates to escape.