BRUSSELS (AFP) -- A man escaped from jail in eastern Belgium on Sunday when a hijacked helicopter dropped down into the prison yard and picked him up, Belgian media reported.

The helicopter later landed near the jail, where the escapee and two others fled on foot.

Two men had reserved the helicopter Sunday afternoon. Once on board, they took hostage, threatening them with grenades and ordering them to fly to the prison in Lantin in eastern Belgium. "One of the individuals pointed a pistol at my temple and another showed me a grenade," the pilot told broadcaster RTBF. "They said that they had nothing to lose."

Once above the prison, one of the men threw smoke bombs in the yard, where some detainees were located. The pilot was forced to land in the yard, and a prisoner climbed on board.

The pilot took off and landed several hundred meters (hundreds of feet) away in a field, where the two men and the prisoner fled on foot.

Belga news agency identified the prisoner as a French national named Erik Ferdinand who was born in 1976 and accused of thefts and forgeries.

He had earlier fled from custody in Spain and was re-arrested several weeks ago in Belgium, the agency said.