At least 19 inmates and four prison officers were killed during violent clashes that occurred Sunday evening in Negombo prison, in the suburbs of the Sri Lankan capital Colombo, we learned from a medical source on Monday.
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Around a hundred other detainees were hospitalized following the violence, the director of Negombo hospital, Pushpa Gamlath, told AFP.
“Some of the victims had gunshot wounds,” said Ms. Gamlath.
The incidents began on Sunday evening, when two groups of inmates, presented as rival drug traffickers, clashed in this prison which houses nearly 10,000 prisoners.
“The situation has completely degenerated,” a police officer commented to AFP on condition of anonymity. “Four guards were killed while trying to stop the riots. »
Informed of the violence, inmates then gathered on the roof of the prison, part of which then collapsed, causing several injuries, according to the police.
Police commandos were called in for reinforcements, but did not intervene in the prison grounds, in front of which many family members of detainees gathered.
In December 2020, a mutiny in Sri Lankan prisons during the coronavirus pandemic resulted in 11 deaths and 117 injuries, forcing the government of the time to release hundreds of inmates.
According to official statistics, Sri Lanka’s prisons held 41,250 inmates as of Sunday, almost four times their capacity.
