Two inmates escape from Venice Santa Maria Maggiore prison

Two inmates escaped from the Santa Maria Maggiore prison in Venice on the morning of September 30, 2026. One inmate was intercepted by prison police while attempting to scale the perimeter wall, while the second managed to reach Mestre before being located and apprehended.

Preliminary reports suggest the escapees are foreign nationals. The Autonomous Union of Prison Police (SAPPE) noted that the escape methods were similar to a previous incident at the same facility on September 17, when a Romanian inmate scaled the wall to escape.

Donato Capece, general secretary of SAPPE, described the event as a warning sign regarding the critical state of prisons in the Veneto region. The union is calling for an immediate investigation into the facility's security vulnerabilities and operational conditions, stating that prison staff cannot be left to face increasingly frequent emergencies alone.