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Manhunt After Fourth Escape by Toma Taulant From Milan's Opera Prison

Union leaders blame chronic overcrowding for a breach made easier by depleted staffing.

Overview

  • Police launched wide searches across Lombardy with checkpoints after staff discovered the empty bunk at about 8:00 a.m. during the morning count.
  • Investigators report he sawed the cell window bars, descended with knotted bedsheets from an upper floor, then cleared the six‑meter perimeter wall using taped broom handles with a metal hook.
  • CCTV shows him leaving on foot around 6:30 a.m., and multiple reports say the alarm did not trigger as staffing was thin on the holiday morning.
  • Prosecutors are examining possible external assistance, with an abandoned van on the ring road under review for links, according to Il Messaggero.
  • The penitentiary union cites severe strain at Opera, reporting 1,338 inmates for 918 places and 533 officers where roughly 811 are needed, and calls for urgent reforms.