The man had escaped from day release and hijacked two vehicles before the fatal collision.
ADVERTISEMENTA German prisoner has died in a car crash after he hijacked two vehicles to escape into neighbouring France.
The man fled from a prison day-release scheme on Monday in Mannheim, around 300 kilometres southwest of Berlin.
Authorities said the 28-year-old hijacked a car at gunpoint and later abandoned the female driver at a rest stop.
The fugitive then caused a crash involving multiple vehicles before hijacking a second car that had stopped to offer help.
The cross-border chase eventually ended in a fatal head-on collision near the French town of Nancy, police said. The prisoner was declared dead at the scene.
The inmate had been in an open prison and was on day release when he escaped, officials said.
It was not immediately clear how the man had obtained a firearm.