2023-10-06 15:11:49
At least three prisoners were killed on Friday, and dozens of inmates at a prison in eastern Lebanon were injured, as a result of fires being set during a protest, which led to the complete burning of cells, according to what a security official told Agence France-Presse.
The protest began in Zahle Central Prison, according to the official, following prison guards discovered a hole in the wall created by prisoners in preparation for a mass escape.
The official explained, “When we began to fill the gap, confrontations took place between security personnel and prisoners, following which a state of chaos prevailed as inmates set fire to their cells, which led to a number of them being completely burned and the death of three of them as a result of fire and suffocation.”
A large number of injured people were transferred to hospitals to receive treatment.
The official National News Agency in Lebanon reported that members of the Civil Defense used hydraulic cutting machines to be able to extract the prisoners, in light of the heavy deployment of the army and security services, which imposed a cordon around the Zahle prison building.
The fire, which quickly spread to the upper floors, caused severe damage to the prison, according to the official, who reported that “entire rooms were burned and were no longer fit to return their inmates to.”
According to local media, the prison contains more than 600 prisoners.
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