A female prison worker being questioned by police, who are hunting two escapees from an upstate New York prison, thought she had a romantic relationship with one of them and had planned to drive the getaway car, NBC News reported.

Investigators are looking into whether civilian employees or private contractors helped two killers obtain the power tools they used to break out of a maximum- security state prison near the Canadian border, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said.

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.