Prisoner escapes over roof of Duisburg-Hamborn prison – police launch manhunt
A 35-year-old Serb escaped from Duisburg-Hamborn prison early on Sunday morning by sawing through window bars and fleeing over the prison roof.
Escape from Duisburg-Hamborn prison: prisoner saws through bars and flees over roof
A 35-year-old remand prisoner escaped from Duisburg-Hamborn penal institution early on Sunday morning. North Rhine-Westphalia's justice ministry confirmed the incident.
According to a ministry spokesman, the fugitive – identified as Sasa D. – is believed to have sawn through the window bars in front of his cell. The ministry stated that the source of the tool required for this remains unclear. He then squeezed himself through the narrow gap, climbed up the external façade and overcame the safety device at the roof edge. He made his way to freedom across the prison roof – despite the downpipes of the gutters being clad with sheet metal to prevent climbing.
North Rhine-Westphalia justice minister Benjamin Limbach (Alliance 90/The Greens) reacted sharply: "Today's escape is absolutely unacceptable. The top priority now is the swift recapture of the fugitive remand prisoner." According to the information provided, a security expert from the ministry is already investigating on site. Limbach announced: "We will thoroughly clarify how this security gap could have occurred, in order to draw the necessary consequences immediately from the findings."
The man had been in remand custody since 10 February, initially on suspicion of theft. Authorities classify him as a so-called "travelling offender" – criminals without a fixed place of residence in Germany who enter the country only to commit offences and frequently commit residential burglaries or car thefts. According to BILD information, Sasa D. was sentenced to a six-year prison sentence for two residential burglaries in Oberhausen on 20 May 2026; however, the sentence is not yet final. Police have launched a manhunt for the man.
Source: BILD