Overcrowding Blamed for Escape of French Gangster

Redoine Faid escaped on Saturday

(CNN) -- The brazen escape of a notorious gangster in France may be due partly to a problem plaguing the prison that couldn't hold him: overcrowding.

There is a clear "overpopulation problem in the Sequedin prison and this hinders the job of guarding prisoners," a spokesman for the French Ministry of Justice told CNN on Sunday, commenting on the escape of Redoine Faid.

Faid allegedly held five people, including four guards, at gunpoint at the detention center in the northern city of Lille on Saturday, officials said.