Canada

Photo: The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

Police vehicles block the road leading to a detention centre in St. Jerome, Que., Sunday, March 17, where two prisoners made a daring escape by helicopter. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes

Quebec provincial police confirm they've arrested one of the two men who made a daylight escape by helicopter from a jail northwest of Montreal on Sunday.

Police say Benjamin Hudon-Barbeau and two other suspects are in custody.

Authorities are still searching for the second escapee, Danny Provencal.

An operation is underway in Chertsey, Que., located about 50 kilometres north of the jail in Saint-Jerome, Que.

Earlier Sunday, authorities had said 36-year-old Hudon-Barbeau and 33-year-old Provencal had broken out of the jail by climbing a rope into a waiting helicopter.

Police had tracked down the helicopter which was used in the escape about 85 kilometres away in Mont-Tremblant, but only the chopper's pilot was still at the scene.

They said it was too early to know what the pilot's role was in the escape.

Saint-Jerome is located some 60 kilometres northwest of Montreal.