Story By: William McGee, Sub-Editor:  Lee Bullen, Agency: Newsflash

This photo shows the 30-meters-long tunnel through which 36 inmates with COVID-19 escaped from jail in southern Brazil.

The prisoners escaped from the jail in Cambara, southern Brazil, at around 5am on 22nd September.

In scenes reminiscent of The Great Escape, the staff at the jail discovered the 30 metres (98 feet) tunnel the inmates had dug under the premises after they fled.

Prison staff have revealed that the 36 inmates who escaped are amongst 118 prisoners at the jail who tested positive for COVID-19, following mass testing on 16th September.

According to staff, the majority of the cases were asymptomatic, and none had so far required hospitalisation.

The jail suffered from overcrowding, with 122 prisoners sharing a space designed to accommodate 42.

Three guards were working at the premises when the inmates managed to escape.

According to local media, four of the fugitives have already been recaptured, and the local penitentiary department revealed yesterday that work had begun to close the tunnel with concrete.

Brazil has the third-highest number of Covid-19 cases in the world and the third-highest prison population in the world.

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