Prison officers beaten during riot

Approximately 250 prisoners are still being contained after a prison riot which broke out around midday today.

A police report indicated that at around 11.20 am, two prisoners were creating a disturbance and prison officers responded. The two prison officers were beaten and the altercation deteriorated into a riot.

Prisoners captured two prison officers and held them hostage. One of them suffered a broken jaw while the other prison officer was beaten unconscious. Prisoners took the opportunity to try and escape from remand yard by trying to breach the southern wall and setting fire to the roof. The prisoners were armed with improvised weapons.

The trouble started when a visitor was denied entry, according to a prison source. A Joint unit including the Regiment, Guard and Emergency Branch, SORT, the fire service and Northern Division police officers are currently at the scene trying to bring order to the situation. Videos recorded with cellphones inside the prison were posted to social media.

In the videos, some prisoners were shouting out about the covid19 virus almost as if to indicate the riot was because of the disease. More on this as news comes to hand.