20 injured in prison clash in Sri Lanka
COLOMBO. January 25. KAZINFORM Twenty people were injured when a clash erupted between prison guards and inmates of the main prison near the capital Colombo on Tuesday, a prisons official said; Kazinform refers to Xinhua.
Sri Lankan Prisons Commissioner P.W Kodippili told Xinhua that the clash erupted following a protest by a group of prisoners.
Initial reports indicated that the prisoners were angry over the poor condition of the food served to the prisoners.
The protest went out of control and 20 people including 19 prisoners were injured in the ensuing clash and they were rushed to hospital.
Doctors at the Colombo national hospital said that some prisoners who were injured had sustained gun-shot injuries to the leg.
However, Kodippili insisted that the prison guards fired in the air in order to control the violence which had erupted.
Following the clash some prisoners got on top of the prison roof and began pelting stones towards the main road opposite the prison disrupting traffic; Kazinform cites Xinhua.
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