Manhunt under way in Texas after convicted murderer escapes prison bus

Gonzalo Lopez stabbed the driver and fled on Thursday as inmates were bussed through a rural area between Houston and Dallas

A convicted murderer serving a life prison sentence in Texas stabbed a transport bus driver and escaped Thursday, setting off a frantic manhunt that was ongoing more than a day later.

The getaway happened as officers bussed Gonzalo Lopez, 46, and other inmates through a rural area between Houston and Dallas about 1.20pm. Lopez somehow slipped out of his shackles, used an unspecified sharp object to stab the driver in the hand and lunged for the wounded officer's service pistol, Robert Hurst of the Texas department of criminal justice told reporters.