A prisoner in South African has made a movie-like escape after locking a police officer in a holding cells at court where he was supposed to answer charges and fled with a gun.

The incident is said to have happened this week at the East London Magistrate’s Court building in Buffalo Street, SowetanLive reports.

According to the publication, it is unclear how Mcebiso Sondlo, who was arrested on a rape charge in December 2019, managed to get his hands on a firearm while in police custody, but  four defence lawyers and a state prosecutor found themselves staring down the barrel of a gun on Friday morning.

Another man, whose identity local media was unable to establish at the time of writing, was with Sondlo at the time of his escape, but was later apprehended.

Police have since launched a manhunt for the armed prisoner on the loose.