EL DORADO ? Two inmates escaped from the El Dorado Correctional Center on Sunday night after cutting through wire during a recreational period, prison officials said.

A search was under way for Steven A. Ford and Jesse L. Bell, who escaped around 8:30 p.m. after cutting through the wire of the facility’s segregation area.

Prison spokesman Dale Call said the men then cut through the first barrier of perimeter fencing, activating an alarm. By the time response teams arrived, the inmates had cut through a second barrier and were gone.

Ford, 26, is serving a sentence from Wyandotte County for robbery and indecent liberties. He is described as white, 5-feet-11 and 195 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. He has tattoos of a ribbon with a cross on on his upper arms.

Bell, 33, is serving sentences from Finney, Leavenworth and Cowley counties for forgery, burglary, battery and escape. He is 5-11 and weighs 250 pounds, with hazel eyes and brown hair. He has several tattoos on his arms, wrists and biceps.

Both men are considered armed and dangerous, Call said in a news release.