Back Fugida de la presó de Maze Catalan Escape en la prisión de Maze Spanish Maze espetxeko ihesa Basque Évasion de la prison de Maze French Փախուստ Մեյզից Armenian 메이즈 교도소 탈옥 Korean Ucieczka z więzienia Maze Polish Побег из тюрьмы Мэйз Russian Maze Prison escape SIMPLE Rymningen från Maze-fängelset Swedish
The Maze Prison escape (known to Irish republicans as the Great Escape) took place on 25 September 1983 in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. HM Prison Maze (also known as Long Kesh) was a maximum security prison considered to be one of the most escape-proof prisons in Europe. It held prisoners suspected of taking part in armed paramilitary campaigns during the Troubles, with separate wings for loyalists and for republicans. In the biggest prison escape in UK history, 38 Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) prisoners escaped from H-Block 7 (H7) of the prison. One prison officer died of a heart attack during the escape and twenty others were injured, including two who were shot with guns that had been smuggled into the prison.
The escape was a propaganda coup for the IRA, and a British government minister faced calls to resign. The official inquiry into the escape placed most of the blame onto prison staff, who in turn blamed the escape on political interference in the running of the prison.