Military officials in Iraq announced they had thwarted an attempted prison escape at Camp Bucca, discovering a 600-foot tunnel leading out of the main prison facility for detainees in Iraq.

The tunnel reached beyond the compound fence, but no one had yet escaped, said Army Maj. Flora Lee, a spokeswoman at the Army's Combined Press Information Center in Iraq. She did not know when guards discovered the tunnel.

Camp Bucca holds 6,049 detainees, nearly two-thirds of all those in Iraq, Lee said late Friday. Situated near the southern city of Umm Qasr, it is one of three detainee facilities in Iraq.

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.

Authorities in charge of the compound realized 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.

"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."


Source AP