Shafaqna Pakistan: At least 25 people were killed and around 100 others injured during clashes between two groups of inmates at a prison in Sri Lanka on Monday, according to two police sources and a hospital official.
Police said the violence erupted overnight between members of two rival drug gangs at the main prison in Negombo, north of the capital, Colombo. Those injured were taken to Negombo Hospital for treatment.
Hospital Director Pushpa Gamlath said the state-run facility had received 23 bodies, while more than 100 injured inmates and prison guards were admitted.
“Some of the victims suffered gunshot wounds, while others sustained cuts and severe bruises,” Gamlath told AFP by telephone.
Fighting began on Sunday evening at Negombo prison, which houses several thousand inmates, officials said.
As the reports of the fighting spread across the prison, women inmates at an adjoining section climbed on top of a roof and demanded their release on Sunday night.
Police said part of the roof collapsed, injuring some of the women.
Police commandos were called in on Monday but not deployed inside the prison.
Large crowds of relatives of the inmates gathered outside the prison on Monday as the air force deployed drones and a helicopter to monitor the area.
Local residents said they heard gunshots.
“Four guards were killed when they tried to break up the rioting,” a police official told AFP. “The situation got out of hand this morning.”
In December 2020, rioting at another prison in Sri Lanka killed 11 inmates and wounded 117 during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, leading the government to release hundreds of inmates from overcrowded jails.
Official data showed that prisons across Sri Lanka held 41,250 inmates as of Sunday, about four times their capacity.
source: Geo News
