MOSCOW: A Russian prisoner charged with double murder on Tuesday escaped from one of Moscow’s most impregnable jails by breaking a hole in his cell ceiling and climbing to freedom, the prison service said.
In a rare break-out, reportedly only the fourth in two decades from Moscow’s Matrosskaya Tishina prison, Oleg Topalov “escaped through a hole in the cell ceiling that he had made and made his way onto the roof,” prison service spokesman Sergei Tsygankov told the RIA Novosti news agency.
“From the roof he escaped over the main fence,” he added.
It was unclear how Topalov managed to break a hole in the ceiling since cells are searched for banned objects. The only object he could have used was a spoon, a source in law enforcement told the Interfax news agency.
In an unusual move, the federal prison service released pictures of Topalov, 33, a slim man with dark curly hair, asking the public to call with any information.
Topalov was charged with murdering two people and with illegal arms trafficking as part of an organized gang. He had been held on remand since October 2011 and his case was sent to court last month, the Investigative Committee said in a statement.
He had been categorized as someone prone to escape attempts and with psychological problems, Tsygankov said.
Investigators opened a criminal probe into negligence after his escape, accusing prison staff of “dishonest or careless attitude to their work that was made use of by the prisoner Topalov.”
Reports said Topalov shared a cell with around seven other prisoners and it was unclear what role they played in his brazen early morning flight to freedom.
Matrosskaya Tishina in northeastern Moscow has operated since 1946. Its name means Sailors’ Repose, the name of the street where it is located. Its official title is Pre-trial Detention Center Number 1.
Since 1995, three other prisoners have escaped from Matrosskaya Tishina, RIA Novosti reported.
The prison has its own hospital which is where lawyer Sergei Magnitsky died in 2009 after being transferred from the notorious Butyrka jail in a case that sparked international outrage.
Russian prisoner makes rare escape from Moscow jail
Russian prisoner makes rare escape from Moscow jail
Egypt’s grand museum begins live restoration of King Khufu’s ancient boat
- The 4,600-year-old boat was built during the reign of King Khufu, the pharaoh who also commissioned the Great Pyramid of Giza
CAIRO: Egypt began a public live restoration of King Khufu’s ancient solar boat at the newly opened Grand Egyptian Museum on Tuesday, more than 4,000 years after the vessel was first built.
Egyptian conservators used a small crane to carefully lift a fragile, decayed plank into the Solar Boats Museum hall — the first of 1,650 wooden pieces that make up the ceremonial boat of the Old Kingdom pharaoh.
The 4,600-year-old boat was built during the reign of King Khufu, the pharaoh who also commissioned the Great Pyramid of Giza. The vessel was discovered in 1954 in a sealed pit near the pyramids, but its excavation did not begin until 2011 due to the fragile condition of the wood.
“You are witnessing today one of the most important restoration projects in the 21st century,” Egyptian Tourism Minister Sherif Fathy said.
“It is important for the museum, and it is important for humanity and the history and the heritage.”
The restoration will take place in full view of visitors to the Grand Egyptian Museum over the coming four years.
