Key update on New Orleans jail break fiasco which saw 10 inmates make daring escape

A maintenance worker has been arrested after allegedly turning off water to a toilet covering a hole in a cell wall - allowing 10 to on Saturday.

in New Orleans, Louisiana, in one of the largest prison breaks in recent US history. Six criminals remain at large. The group yanked open a broken cell door, moved the toilet and slithered through the hole in the daring operation.

Sterling Williams, a maintenance worker who has now been detained, has claimed one inmate threatened to "shank" him if he did not turn off the water. The 33-year-old man also alleges another lag tried to take his phone and tried to get him to bring a book with cash app information.

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But Williams is charged with 10 counts of principle to simple escape and one count of malfeasance in office, with a $100,000 (£75,000) bond per count.

Councillor Oliver Thomas, of New Orleans City Council, told reporters the sheriff’s office has a responsibility to protect employees, and create a safe environment for them to report threats and other problems.

Cllr Thomas said: "We cannot allow the inmates to run the facilities. That can’t happen. We cannot allow them to threaten the men and women who work there."

The inmates left graffiti on the wall at which they exited the cell. It included the message "To Easy LoL," with an arrow pointing to the gap. Officials have underscored multiple security lapses, including ineffective cell locks and that the inmates escaped when the lone guard monitoring them went to get food.

The absence of the inmates, many charged with or convicted of violent offenses such as murder, was not reported to law enforcement for hours. Four have since been apprehended.

Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said in her statement that Williams "admitted to agents that one of the escapees advised him to turn the water off in the cell where the inmates escaped from". She added: "Instead of reporting the inmate, Williams turned the water off as directed allowing the inmates to carry out their scheme to successfully escape."

But on Tuesday, Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson, who oversees the jail, said she takes "full accountability" for the escape. She continued: "There were procedural failures and missed notifications, but there were also intentional wrongdoings. This was a coordinated effort aided by individuals inside our own agency who made the choice to break the law. We are continuing to pursue everyone involved."

The sheriff's office released images of the hole in the wall, which shows what the piping fixture looked like before the toilet was ripped out. The photos note that "there are clean cuts" on the metal bars.