We're pausing our live coverage of the search for Mohamed Amra now, as the search for the escaped prisoner goes on.

The brazen and violent attack has left France in shock and you can read more on the day's events and the continuing manhunt, in our story here.

Thanks for joining us.

If you've just joined our coverage, here's a re-cap:

• Prisoner Mohamed Amra - known as "The Fly" - escaped from a prison van after the vehicle was ambushed by gunmen at around 11:00 (09:00 GMT) near Rouen, Normandy
• Two prisoner officers were killed after the van was rammed and shots were fired
• Three other officers were injured - of which two remain in critical condition
• French President Emmanuel Macron said "everything is being done to find the perpetrators of this crime"
• The French justice minister revealed that the wife of one of the killed officers is five months pregnant

• The attackers escaped in a car which police believe they have now recovered, abandoned near the toll gate where the attack happened
• Amra was convicted of burglary on 10 May and had been indicted by prosecutors in Marseille for a kidnapping that led to a death
• The 30-year-old inmate is said to have ties to a gang in Marseille
• Hundreds of police are working to track him down, with roadblocks set up across north-west France

Image source, .

We're now able to bring you footage from the start of the ambush, when a car rammed into the prison van that was carrying Mohamed Amra:

Hugh Schofield
Reporting from Incarville

The setting for the ambush is one of those “peri-urban” zones with which France abounds: where trading estates, roundabouts and fast-food outlets begin to give way to the countryside.

The prison van was heading from a court hearing in Rouen to the gaol at Evreux, where Mohamed Amra was incarcerated.

His accomplices were obviously fully informed because they were waiting at the motorway tollbooth.

Several hours later the place has returned – almost – to normal. But over the whole of north-west France hundreds of police and gendarmes are stopping cars at roadchecks, and following up on every tip-off.

If past experience is anything to go by, the denouement of this bloody episode will not be long in coming.

It is hard to stay on the run. Probably in a few days the fugitives will be cornered somewhere, and probably a spot many miles from here where it all started.

Image source, EPA

The lawyer of Mohamed Amra, Hugues Vigier, has been interviewed live on French news channel BFMTV.

"I’m utterly shocked by what happened this morning," he says.

"This violence is unimaginable. My assistant saw Mr Amra this morning. A short meeting, about an hour long was planned for this morning and my assistant saw Mr Amra and he was perfectly normal.

"I would like to believe that he didn’t know about the plan to free him. That would not change the tragedy that took place but as lawyer I want to believe he didn’t plan this escape.

"For me this plan doesn’t match with what I know of him. If he’s behind it then I failed to understand who he is.

"He knew about today’s transfer so it is possible that he’d have told other people.

"If he’s behind today’s escape he’s a much bigger criminal than what’s he’s been convicted for until now."

We've just received this picture of Mohamed Amra - the prisoner who escaped after the deadly ambush in Incarville earlier.

Image source, AFP / Getty

The mother of Mohamed Amra, the inmate freed by the gang, has just given a short interview to French broadcaster RTL.

She described hearing about this morning's deadly ambush, saying: "I broke down, I cried - I was so unwell - how can lives be taken away in this way?"

She also described her son's life in the prison system, saying he was "lugged around left right and centre, they put him in isolation instead of sentencing him once and for all".

She added that he never said anything to her about his escape plans.

"He doesn't talk to me. He's my son, he doesn't talk to me about anything at all."

She said she went to visit him in several of the prisons he's been held in, but "he never gave anything away. I don't understand".

Gunmen wearing balaclavas ambushed a prison van in northern France this morning, to free a drug dealer known as "The Fly".

According to the Paris prosecutor's office:

• He is 30-year-old Mohamed Amra
• He was convicted of burglary by a court in Evreux on 10 May and was being held at the Val de Reuil prison, near Rouen
• Amra had also been indicted by prosecutors in Marseille for a kidnapping that led to a death

Reuters news agency reports that Amra had ties to a gang in Marseille, citing a police source in the southern city.

Earlier we brought you still pictures of the ambush as it unfolded - here is a clip from the same social media footage.

Image source, Getty Images

We've just had this picture of a burnt out car - apparently used in the prisoner's escape - being towed away by the French authorities.

As we reported earlier, the attackers reportedly escaped in a car that was later found near the toll gate where the ambush happened.

We're now able to bring you some pictures of the attack in Incarville, shared on social media.

The first image shows a gunman; the second shows a vehicle on fire after apparently hitting a prison van.

Image source, Social media

Image source, Social media

One other line from the latest French prosecutor's statement - it says two of three prison officers injured in the ambush remain in critical condition.

As a reminder, two other officers were killed in the ramming and shooting attack.

We've just had a new statement from prosecutor Laura Beccuau.

It says that - contrary to an earlier statement from her office - Mohammed Amra was not a "closely watched inmate" (in French, a détenu particulièrement signalé, or DPS).

But it says Amra did require a "level 3" escort.

As we just reported, today's ambush came on the same day a French Senate report says France is being "submerged" by drugs crime. Here are some quotes from that report:

• "With the simultaneous explosion of both supply and demand, no part of the national territory and no social class is beyond the reach of drugs crime… drugs traffic is infiltrating everywhere, with a concomitant exacerbation of violence"

• "The spread of drugs crime is not just the result of foreign mafias. It is also the work of structured and dangerous French organisations who act without any limit be it financial, territorial or in the exercise of violence"

• "The intensification of drugs traffic in rural areas and medium-sized towns is accompanied by a spectacular and disturbing explosion of violence which can expose citizens to veritable scenes of war"

France's drug war under the spotlight againpublished at 15:20 British Summer Time 14 May 2024

15:20 BST 14 May 2024

Chris Bockman
Reporting from Toulouse, south-west France

Mohamed Amra, the 30-year-old inmate freed by the heavily armed gang, was supposed to be under very close supervision because of his long criminal record.

According to the French judicial authorities, he had been found guilty of theft - and was serving an 18-month jail sentence - but was also facing new charges connected to kidnapping and a drug-related killing in the southern port city of Marseille.

He was being escorted to a court house related to those new charges when the ambush happened. French media reports claim he’s considered to be a powerful drug baron.

Amra’s bloody escape comes the same day as the French Senate unveiled a highly alarming report on the spread of the illegal drug trade across the country, and called for urgent new measures to tackle the problem.

The senate commission’s report said the narcotics business was spreading to small towns and the countryside, triggering violent turf wars between gangs in territories that until now had been considered unscathed.

Just yesterday Nicolas Bessone, the prosecutor for the Marseille region, admitted on the main French television news programme France 2 that drug gangs had become so powerful and wealthy they were managing to infiltrate and corrupt civil servants within the court system in the city of Marseille.

Last year around 50 people were killed in drug related shootings in the city. The senate commission's report said many of the French drug gang leaders are untouchable, running their ruthless business abroad - mainly from North Africa and and the Middle East.

Image source, .

The ambush took place at a toll booth in Incarville in the Val-de-Reuil commune in Normandy, northwestern France.

The escaped inmate was being transported between the towns of Rouen and Evreux.

If you're just joining us, here's a round-up of the key developments:

• At least two French prison officers have been killed and three others injured in an ramming and shooting ambush on a prison van near Rouen, Normandy
• A prisoner was being taken from court to a prison and escaped after the attack
• French prosecutors identify the inmate as Mohamed Amra, born in 1994 - he had been convicted of aggravated robbery and charged with abduction leading to death

• The officers were shot with "heavy weapons" by the prisoner's accomplices, according to French Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti
• Several hundred police officers and gendarmes are involved in the manhunt
• The attack took place at around 11:00 (09:00 GMT) near a toll booth on the A154 motorway
• French President Emmanuel Macron says "everything is being done to find the perpetrators"

This is a fast-developing story, with lots of moving parts, so stay with us for updates and analysis.

More details now on the prisoner who has escaped.

Paris public prosecutor Laure Beccuau identifies him as a "closely watched inmate", Mohamed Amra, born in March 1994.

She says he was convicted of aggravated robbery last week, and also charged in a case of abduction leading to death.

Beccuau says two prison officers were killed in the attack and two others are receiving urgent medical care.

BBC News has contacted the Paris public prosecutor's office for more details.

We're getting some pictures from the scene of the ambush in Incarville, which is located in the Eure department in Normandy.

A forensic tent has been set up and investigators are patrolling the area.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, EPA

The French Prime Minister, Gabriel Attal, is speaking to the French parliament, after a minute's silence was held there.

"Ours is a country that will never cower to violence, that will remain united," he says.

He adds that "everything will be put in place to track down perpetrators... we will spare no effort or men.

"And I'm telling you, they [the perpetrators] will pay. We owe it to their families, loved ones, prison officers and to all French citizens."