The escape of a prisoner from his prison was discovered only by the hospital, who entered for urgent surgery as he climbed the barbed wire fence.
No one was found in the Babarua prison in Christchurch, where the prisoner used a metal saw to cut off the bars of his cell to escape from the guarded wing, only to escape when the hospital called the prison administration.
It was the fourth time the 36-year-old prisoner escaped from prison in 12 years and was convicted of several crimes, including armed robbery.
The authorities did not reveal his name in a sign that he faced other serious charges.
