5 dead in Indonesia jail break

BBC Online

A police officer and firefighters use riot shields to protect themselves from rocks hurled by inmates, as they try to extinguish fire blazing through Tanjung Gusta prison during a prison riot in Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia, Thursday, July 11, 2013. Photo: AP

Five people are reported to have been killed in a riot at a prison in Indonesia’s Sumatra island that led to the escape of dozens of inmates.

The riot broke out at Tanjung Gusta prison in Medan on Thursday, leaving parts of the jail engulfed in flames.

Police said the violence was sparked by a power cut that had left inmates without water.

Hundreds of security personnel are searching for more than 100 inmates who broke out of jail.

Some of those who escaped had been convicted of terrorism offences, police said. Some of the fugitives are reported to have been recaptured, but it is not clear how many.

Police were manning checkpoints on roads around the prison, reports said.

It was not clear whether police had managed to bring the prison fully back under control.

At least two prison staff were reported to be among the dead. One report said they had died in a building that was set on fire.

The violence erupted after a power cut knocked out pumps that provide water to the prison, which is home to more than 2,500 inmates.

“The prisoners were annoyed by a blackout and problems getting water, which they said happens often at the prison,” Heru Prakoso, a spokesman for North Sumatra province police, told Agence France Presse.

“Prison officials told us that the inmates then set fire to the facility.” The prisoners who escaped got out by knocking down a prison wall, the Jakarta Globe reported.

Medan is the capital of North Sumatra and Indonesia’s fourth-largest city.