At least three inmates were killed and more than 20 were injured in two separate prison clashes in Sri Lanka on Thursday and Friday, a government minister said, as authorities deployed heavily armed troops to its main maximum-security prison.
Hundreds of soldiers and police commandos guarded the perimeter of Colombo’s Welikada Prison, also known as Magazine Prison, on Friday after unrest that began on Thursday night.
Public Security Minister Ananda Wijepala told parliament on Friday that one inmate died at the high-security Welikada Prison late on Thursday when about 40 prisoners clashed after breaking out of their cells.
Dozens of convicts broke out of their cells and climbed onto the roof of a prison building around midnight, sparking clashes with guards.
A prison official said the situation had been brought under control, but similar unrest was reported at another prison in Kuruwita, about 80 kilometres southeast of Colombo.
Two inmates died on Friday morning at Kuruwita Prison, Wijepala said.
Between the two incidents, 23 inmates were injured and admitted to hospitals, Wijepala said, adding that the violence was related to narcotics dealers and rival criminal gangs.
Prison officials could not immediately be reached for comment.
The reports of the three deaths come a month after a clash in Negombo prison on July 6 left at least 26 people dead, including seven prison officers. This was the country's deadliest prison riot in more than five years.
Sri Lankan prisons are highly congested, with more than 39,000 inmates crowded into a system with a total capacity of just 10,000, according to a recent speech in Parliament by Justice Minister Harshana Nanayakkara.
“The number of prisoners in Sri Lanka today is four times the capacity,” said Senaka Perera, president of the Committee for Rights of Prisoners. “In fact, they have been patient for so long.”
Last month, the authorities announced plans to convert disused state buildings into prisons, but new facilities are yet to be added.
More than three-quarters of inmates in Sri Lanka are remand prisoners awaiting trial, and most are being held in connection with drug offences.
