Tunnel found under prison

2005-03-26 08:28

Washington - US military guards discovered a 600-foot tunnel dug with makeshift tools leading out of the main prison facility for detainees in Iraq, officials said on Friday. The escape route was found before anyone had escaped.

The tunnel at Camp Bucca was 3.66m to 4.57m deep and as wide as one metre and had reached beyond the compound fence, Army Major Flora Lee, a spokesperson at the Army's Combined Press Information Centre in Iraq, said by telephone. She did not know when guards discovered the tunnel.

Camp Bucca holds 6 049 detainees, almost two-thirds of the total in Iraq, Lee said. Near the southern city of Umm Qasr, it is one of three detainee facilities in the country.

A bucket cut from a water container and a shovel made of tent material were used to dig the tunnel, Lee said. The opening was under a floorboard of the compound and was concealed with dirt.

Planned mass escape

Authorities in charge of the compound realised a tunnel was under way after they found dirt in latrines and other places, Lee said. It may have been the most extensive effort aimed at a mass escape, she said.

"I'm not aware of any other instances where this has happened," Lee said. "There have been a few other attempts at digging a tunnel but nothing of this size."

US guards fired on prisoners during a riot at Camp Bucca on January 31, killing four detainees and injuring six others.

The guard detachment at Camp Bucca includes military police of the 105th Military Police Battalion and Air Force security forces personnel with the 586th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron, she said.

- AP