AMN/ WEB DESK
A riot broke out at Pathein prison in Ayeyarwady region of Myanmar on Friday. One prison inmate was reportedly killed and close to 60 injured in the riot, according to the State Administration Council (SAC), quoted by the local media and the AFP.
According to the official announcement by SAC, about 70 prisoners broke down the doors of their dormitory and tried to attack the staff of the prison department. The staff members tried to persuade them to return to their cells but they did not obey the instructions and continued to riot. After this incident, a similar incident took place in another dormitory where the prisoners destroyed CCTVs and went to the office of the prison authorities vandalising the premises along with the first group of prisoners who started the riots.
The prison authorities with the help of the security forces headed by the district police chief of Myanmar Police force entered the prison to contain the rioting. However, the prisoners attacked the security forces with wooden sticks. The security forces then used riot control guns, batons and shields to bring order in the prison. Situation was brought under control after a few hours.
In the incident two members of the Myanmar police force and nine employees of the correctional department were injured. One inmate died as a result of a fight amongst the prisoners and 60 prisoners were injured.
The incident started after a phone was recovered from one jail inmate and the authorities tried to take action against the prisoner, said the official SAC statement.