Cool con flees pen

HIROSHIMA — A man serving 23 years for attempted murder was on the run today after escaping from a penitentiary here clad only in white underwear, Japan’s first jailbreak in more than 20 years.

Li Guolin was exercising in a yard when he stripped off his convict’s uniform and used scaffolding erected by builders to climb over a five-metre perimeter fence Wednesday, officials said.

A security guard who saw the escape said Li “fell on his rear and turned over. Then he ran off at a steady trot” in nearfreezing temperatures.