Feb 7, 2008 7:03 pm US/Central
Officers Discover Underground Tunnel At Prison
STILLWATER, Minn. (WCCO) ―
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None of the inmates had escaped, but the "beginning of a well-hidden, sophisticated underground tunnel" was discovered.
CBS
An inmate or inmates at the Stillwater Correctional Facility were organizing an apparent escape attempt, according to state corrections officials.
Corrections commissioner Joan Fabian said a tunnel was discovered on Wednesday morning in the basement of one of the industrial buildings on the premises. The building, it was said at a press conference, dates back to 1907.
"It was large enough for someone to actually enter the tunnel," said Deputy Commissioner Dennis Benson. "It was the beginning of what we would coin, a very sophisticated tunnel."
The Stillwater prison is surrounded by a thick, very tall wall to keep inmates from escaping. The distance from the start of the tunnel to the wall was about 50 feet.
"Lets just say this there was still a significant difference to get to the wall," said Benson.
The tunnel was made close to a heavy-duty wall. On the other side of the wall is a perimeter road used by prison guards. Beyond that is a steep bank.
There are 400 surveillance cameras throughout the prison, but none of those cameras was in the area where the tunnel was found.
"It's a low traffic area, and obviously they're pretty aware of where we've put cameras in and where we don't. They knew in terms of staff coverage how many rounds a day," said Benson.
All inmates have been accounted for at the facility, which houses about 1,400 men and has about 65 guards keeping watch.
"It was a very difficult place to find, because of their alertness we were able to thwart this coming to fruition," said Fabian.
Stillwater officials say they will beef up security and add more guards.
The Minnesota Department of Corrections has directed its special investigation office to look into the well-hidden tunnel.
Fabian declined to release additional details, citing the ongoing investigation.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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