A dramatic two day cross-country manhunt ended in a hail of bullets on Tuesday when French police finally cornered two armed gangsters who had blasted their way out of a high security jail. One fugitive, 37-year-old Christophe Khider, was shot in the torso and seriously wounded in an exchange of fire after police rammed their getaway car just before dawn in the south-eastern suburbs of Paris, officials said.
The other, 30-year-old Omar Top El Hadj, was stunned when the pair's car crashed during the arrest operation and was captured unharmed, according to interior ministry spokesman Gerard Gachet. Three officers were lightly injured in the collision, he added. Interior Minister Michele Alliot-Marie congratulated officers on the arrests, which came two days after the pair produced a gun, took two prison guards hostage and used explosives to blast open a jail security door.
Following Sunday's escape, the pair hijacked a series of cars and led police in helicopters and squad cars on a two-day chase across the country, first north towards the Belgian border then south again towards Paris. On Monday, they kidnapped motorist Willy Peters and his grandson in the northern town of Amiens and forced them to drive to Arras, closer to the Belgian border, where they released them unharmed.
The pair then doubled back towards Paris. Arriving in the city in the early hours of Tuesday they rammed a vehicle, kidnapped the driver, took him to a bank machine and forced him to withdraw cash, according to investigators.
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