'Pink Panther' Jewel Thief Escapes Swiss Jail

A member of the notorious "Pink Panther" jewel thief gang has escaped from a Swiss jail in a dramatic break-out involving a fellow prisoner.

Police revealed Milan Poparic fled with another convict after two accomplices rammed a gate and fired on guards at the Orbe prison in Vaud.

The pair used a van to smash into the gate and some barbed wire during an exercise period, before using ladders to create an escape route.

They set fire to the van and made off with Poparic and the second inmate - convicted kidnapper, arsonist and money-launderer Adrian Albrecht - in a separate vehicle.

Prison guards came under constant automatic weapons fire to stop them foiling the escape, but no-one was injured.

Officers have launched a manhunt involving more than a dozen police patrols from Swiss authorities and French police are also involved.

Orbe is only 10 miles (16km) from the French border.

Bosnian national Poparic, 34, was serving a sentence of six years and eight months for robbing a jewellery store in Neuchatel, Switzerland, in 2009.

Police said he was a member of the Pink Panthers group, which has become known for jewel heists around the globe.

The gang is named after the 1963 film starring Peter Sellers as the bungling Inspector Clouseau.

It earned its nickname after British detectives found a diamond ring hidden in a jar of face cream, echoing a scene from the movie.

According to Interpol, the group has targeted luxury watch and jewellery shops in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the US and netted more than £280m since 1999.

It is believed to have a core membership of about 40 people, many of them from the Balkans.