'Prisons secure' despite escape

(ANSA) - Rome, February 15 - Italy's prison system is secure, despite the escape on Sunday of two inmates from Rome's Rebibbia jail, said Santi Conosolo, head of the prisons administration, on Monday.
    "An excess of alarm for the escape of two inmates mustn't create fear in the collective; our institutions are secure," Consolo said.
    "I realize that there's the need for resources and personnel and that modern alarm systems must be strengthened to avoid escapes," he said.
    A massive manhunt is underway to find the two Rebibbia escapees, Romanian former cellmates Catalin Ciobanu, 33, and Mihai Florin Diaconescu, 28.
    Police are searching train and bus stations Monday after spending Sunday night questioning the inmates' relatives and searching their homes.
    On Sunday the inmates sawed window bars from the warehouse where they were permitted to work and descended the exterior prison wall using tied-together sheets to escape on foot.
    Prison guards' union Sappe said at the time of the escape from the new annex of the prison at around 6:30 p.m. on Sunday, there were only two guards on duty for 150 inmates and the alarm system wasn't working.
    However, on Monday Consolo said a preliminary report showed there were nine guards on duty for 300 inmates in the building where the escape took place. He said the department is investigating why the alarms didn't go off.