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Omaha Steve

(98,872 posts)
Sun Nov 29, 2020, 11:05 PM Nov 2020

Sri Lankan prison riot leaves 6 inmates dead, 35 injured

Source: AP

By BHARATHA MALLAWARACHI

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Six inmates were killed and 35 others were injured when guards opened fire to control a riot at a prison on the outskirts of Sri Lanka’s capital, officials said Monday. Two guards were critically injured, they said.

Pandemic-related unrest has been growing in Sri Lanka’s overcrowded prisons. Inmates have staged protests in recent weeks at several prisons as the number of coronavirus cases surges in the facilities.

Police spokesman Ajith Rohana said inmates created “unrest” Sunday at Mahara prison, about 15 kilometers (10 miles) north of Colombo, and officials attempted to control the situation.

But “the unrest situation turned into a prison riot,” he said, adding that prisoners tried to take control of the prison and hundreds attempted to escape.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/prisons-sri-lanka-prison-riots-coronavirus-pandemic-colombo-01e45b66b18992213b57d98f09423ab9v

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