Fire has engulfed a penal colony in Siberia after a riot broke out – reportedly sparked by accusations of brutality.
One inmate has been killed, regional officials said on Saturday, and another guard hospitalised. The body of the prisoner was discovered underneath debris after special forces retook control of the prison.
“It was a violent death,” said Viktor Ignatenko, the regional human rights ombudsmen. It was not immediately clear whether the man died when authorities raided the prison late Friday night. Ignatenko said that authorities were investigating whether he had been killed by fellow inmates.
Videos posted to social media on Friday showed buildings ablaze at the IK-15 prison in the Siberian city of Angarsk, 2,500 miles southeast of Moscow and near Lake Baikal’s southern shore
Prisoners had earlier attacked a guard and began to cut themselves using pieces of broken glass from security cameras, according to the region’s prison service.
Крупный пожар в исправительной колонии в Иркутской области. Три производственных цеха подожгли сами заключенные. Накануне один из них подрался с сотрудниками колонии и призвал других сидельцев устроить беспорядки. Это и случилось pic.twitter.com/2ZWLiOGtMb
— ntvru (@ntvru) April 10, 2020
Prisoners in Russia’s penal colonies sometimes perform acts of self-harm as an act of protest.
The rioters, of whom there were an estimated 16 or 17, later set fire to workshops and barricaded themselves inside the prison’s work zone.
Officers late on Friday evening claimed to have retaken the prison and were “evaluating the damage”.
At least one guard was taken to hospital in the initial riot, but it was not clear how many were injured or killed when local special forces retook the prison. Human rights activists said that police had cordoned off the area.
Videos sent to activists and posted to social media showed prisoners claiming to be trapped as special forces bore down on them.
“They’re beating everyone, everyone is cut,” the prisoner said, indicating the bandages tied around his wounds. “The whole area is on fire.”
“They’re going to kill us,” another says.
An earlier video believed to have sparked the riot showed a prisoner with a bloodied bandage on his left arm accusing a guard of beating him. “The police are out of control – and not for the first time,” he said.
