Three escape from island prison (2)

(ANSA) - Trapani, October 30 - Three inmates escaped from prison on the island of Favignana at the weekend by sawing through their cell bars and letting themselves down on bedsheets.
    They are being sought on the island but there are fears they had accomplices ready to get them off it.
    Adriano Avolese, 36, a lifer for murder, Giuseppe Scardino, 41, serving 15 years for violent robberies and th attempted murder of a cop, and his friend and accomplice Massimo Mangione, 37, escaped from the high-security jail in the centre of Favignana, adjacent to a middle school and 100 metres from the famed Praia beach on the tourist island.
    They tied and gagged a fourth cellmate for fear he might reveal their escape.
    Italy's prisons administration department (DAP) on Monday opened a probe into the escape.
    Prison officers' union SAPPE said "we welcome inspections but we don't want them to be a way to find scapegoats".
    The union said the DAP probe "is an example of closing the barn door when the horses have bolted".
    It asked "why did it not intervene before, after the constant, reiterated complaints from SAPPE about how the prison system is not holding up anymore?". Favignana, approximately 18 kilometres (11 miles) off the est coast of Sicily, is famous for its tuna fisheries and is now a popular tourist destination with frequent hydrofoil connections to the mainland.