The Danish inventor who tortured and killed a Swedish journalist on his homemade submarine has been recaptured by police after he reportedly escaped prison in Copenhagen.
Madsen was sentenced to life in 2018 for killing the 30-year-old reporter Kim Wall.
Police said on Twitter that a man had been arrested after an attempted escape from the prison in Albertslund, Denmark. Police spokesman Claus Buhr told The Associated Press it was Madsen.
The Ekstra Bladet tabloid shared a video of Madsen sitting in the grass with his hands behind his back and police at a distance.
Madsen reportedly took a person hostage inside the prison and threatened them with that appeared to be a firearm, local media reports.
Frank Jensen, who witnessed the arrest, told the Ekstra Bladet that police surrounded a white van, opened the door and pulled Madsen out near the Herstedvester prison where Madsen is serving his sentence.
A bomb squad was also seen at the scene.
Danish police are due to give a press conference later on Tuesday with further details of the arrest.
Prosecutors said Madsen killed Ms Wall either by cutting the throat or strangling her.
The Swedish journalist's headless torso washed up in Copenhagen, weighed down with metal on August 23 last year.
Ms Wall had planned to interview Madsen on board his 18-metre long, 40-tonne submarine for a magazine feature on August 10.
But after UC3 Nautilus failed to return, her boyfriend alerted the authorities in the early hours of the following day.
The cause of death has never been established but the court found that Madsen "cut the body into pieces to hide what had happened".
He was found guilty of premeditated murder and sexual assault.
