Two convicted murderers have used power tools to cut through steel pipes at a maximum-security prison near the Canadian border and escape through a manhole, New York governor Andrew Cuomo has said.

A faster response by police to the attack at an immigrant services centre in the United States would not have saved any lives, a county prosecutor said..

Up to 13 people were killed and 26 others injured when a man armed with a high-powered rifle opened fire in New York today, according to US reports.