\u201cThere are some victims with gunshot injuries, some with cuts and severe bruises,\u201d says hospital director
\n Colombo
\nAt least 25 people were killed and about 100 injured in clashes between two groups of prisoners at a prison in Sri Lanka on Monday, two police sources and one hospital source told Reuters.
\nThe wounded were rushed to the Negombo hospital, north of the capital Colombo, following overnight clashes between inmates from two drug gangs at the area\u2019s main prison, police said.
\nHospital director Pushpa Gamlath earlier said there were 23 bodies at her state-run health facility, and more than 100 wounded inmates and guards were also admitted.
\n\u201cThere are some victims with gunshot injuries, some with cuts and severe bruises,\u201d Gamlath told AFP by telephone.
\nFighting began on Sunday evening at Negombo prison, which houses several thousand inmates, officials said.
\nAs the reports of the fighting spread across the prison, women inmates at an adjoining section climbed on top of a roof and demanded their release on Sunday night.
\nPolice said part of the roof collapsed, injuring some of the women.
\nPolice commandos were called in on Monday but not deployed inside the prison.
\nLarge crowds of relatives of the inmates gathered outside the prison on Monday as the air force deployed drones and a helicopter to monitor the area.
\nLocal residents said they heard gunshots.
\n\u201cFour guards were killed when they tried to break up the rioting,\u201d a police official told AFP. \u201cThe situation got out of hand this morning.\u201d
\nIn December 2020, rioting at another prison in Sri Lanka killed 11 inmates and wounded 117 during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, leading the government to release hundreds of inmates from overcrowded jails.
\nOfficial data showed that prisons across Sri Lanka held 41,250 inmates as of Sunday, about four times their capacity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cThere are some victims with gunshot injuries, some with cuts and severe bruises,\u201d says hospital director Colombo At least 25 people were killed and about 100 injured in clashes between two groups of prisoners at a prison in Sri Lanka on Monday, two police sources and one hospital source told Reuters. The wounded were rushed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":554954,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-554942","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n