Police in North Macedonia were astonished when they found this 131-foot-long escape tunnel dug by prison inmates.

Police say at least eight inmates had been planning their escape from Idrizovo Penitentiary on the outskirts of Skopje for two months.

The group, they say, consisted of hardened criminals serving sentences ranging from 10 years to life imprisonment.

After officials caught wind of their escape plan, they found and secured the tunnel before anyone inside the prison could flee.

Several plastic baskets used to remove soil were found, as well as an electric light bulb to illuminate the escape route (Picture: MVR/Newsflash)

The tunnel, they report, was more than three feet deep and 31 inches wide.

Inside, several plastic baskets used to remove soil were found, as well as an electric light bulb to illuminate the escape route.

North Macedonia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs said in a statement obtained by Newsflash: ‘The Ministry of Internal Affairs, Public Security Bureau, and Department for Combating Organised and Serious Crime, in coordination with the National Security Agency, prevented an organised escape from the Idrizovo Penitentiary.

‘Namely, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, based on obtained forensic knowledge that a group of at least eight convicted individuals serving sentences at the Idrizovo Penitentiary, convicted of serious criminal offences with sentences ranging from 10 years to life imprisonment, were preparing to escape by digging a tunnel.

Workers investigate the entrance to the 40-metre-tunnel dug by prisoners (Picture: MVR/Newsflash)

‘The Ministry conducted forensic operational activities to verify the information, which was then shared with the Sanctions Execution Directorate.

‘After receiving the information, the Sanctions Execution Directorate conducted inspections at the location indicated as a potential tunnel, where they discovered a 40-metre-long tunnel located near the object used for storing coal towards the protective fence behind which the women’s section was located, and in the immediate vicinity of the closed section of the penitentiary, at a depth of about one metre and a diameter of about 80 centimetres, appropriately secured with cross beams and props.

‘In the tunnel, several plastic baskets tied with ropes were found, which were used to remove the excavated soil, as well as an electric cable with a bulb used for lighting the tunnel.

‘The Ministry of Internal Affairs, in coordination with the competent public prosecutor’s office, is taking additional measures and activities to clarify the case.’

Several plastic baskets used to remove soil were found, as well as an electric light bulb to illuminate the escape route.