Danish submarine killer surrounded by police after trying to escape from prison

World

A convicted murderer, who killed a journalist on board his submarine, has been surrounded by police after trying to escape prison.

Peter Madsen, 49, tried to flee Herstedvester Prison, where he is serving a life sentence for the murder of Kim Wall in 2017.

Danish police have said a man has been arrested after an attempted escape and the area has been cordoned off.

Emergency services at the scene. Pic: TV2.DK
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Emergency services at the scene. Pic: TV2.DK

Police officers are seen as Peter Madsen (not pictued) is surrounded by the police in Albertslund, Denmark October 20, 2020. Ritzau Scanpix/Nils Meilvang via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. DENMARK OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN DENMARK.
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The situation appears to be ongoing

Local media are reporting the situation was ongoing for at least an hour but the convict has now been driven away by officers.

Photos from the scene in Albertslund, Copenhagen, show Madsen sitting against a fence surrounded by armed police.

Two officers lie on their stomachs on the ground in front of him and it looks like he is wearing a belt-like object around his stomach.

Madsen had threatened prison guards with a “pistol-like object” and also claimed to have a bomb, according to Danish newspaper Ekstra Bladet.

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Inventor Peter Madsen designed the submarine
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Peter Madsen pictured in 2017

Later pictures from the scene, which is a few hundred metres from the prison, show vehicles attempting to block the situation from view.

Madsen, who was a minor celebrity in Denmark, was convicted of Ms Wall’s murder in 2018.

Danish inventor Peter Madsen is on trial for the murder of journalist Kim Wall
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Kim Wall, 30, was writing an article about Madsen when she was killed

The 30-year-old Swedish journalist had been writing an article about his inventions and was travelling on his submarine when she was killed.

The inventor initially claimed he had dropped her off on shore and did not know what happened to her, but later insisted she had died accidentally after her remains were found in Copenhagen Harbour.

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