Female prison worker questioned after pair's escape

State forest ranger Dan Fox helps prison workers in their hunt for the escapees. Photo / AP

Two convicted murderers who escaped from a maximum-security jail may have had help from a female worker one of them had charmed.

The woman was questioned as a possible accomplice after Richard Matt, 48, and David Sweat, 34, fled the jail in New York state by using power tools to drill though the steel walls at the back of their adjoining cells.

Following a breakout reminiscent of the films The Shawshank Redemption and Escape from Alcatraz, Matt and Sweat have become the focus of America's biggest manhunt, involving the FBI and US Marshals.

The search extended to Canada and Mexico yesterday and there was a US$100,000 ($140,870) reward for information leading to their capture.

Matt was described by those who knew him as an "infamous lady killer". The female employee, believed to be a civilian staff member or private contractor, was questioned about their relationship and taken off duty.

David Bentley, a retired detective who helped convict Matt, told the New York Post the criminal "gets girlfriends any place he goes". Bentley added: "When he's cleaned up, he's very handsome."

Andrew Cuomo, the New York State Governor, said: "They definitely had help, otherwise they couldn't have done this on their own."

All the prison's power tools have been accounted for and the investigation is focusing on how equipment was smuggled in.

Matt and Sweat followed a maze of pipes and tunnels out of the Clinton Correctional Facility in the small town of Dannemora. They broke through a manhole cover to reach freedom.