Sri Lanka prison clashes leave at least 25 dead, dozens wounded

At least 25 people, including inmates and prison security personnel, were killed as clashes continued for a second day at a prison in Sri Lanka on Monday.

The dead included five prison officials and 20 inmates, according to the Ada Derana news outlet.

The outlet added that around 100 people were reportedly injured in the clashes.

The government deployed soldiers to contain the situation as police “opened fire to control the clash between inmates and prison officers” after “fresh unrest had broken out” at Negombo prison on the western coast of the island nation, News Wire reported.

It added that the “unrest broke out following a confrontation between inmates and prison officials.”

The injured are being treated at local health facilities.

On Sunday, clashes broke out “between remanded and convicted prisoners (which) had resulted in the deaths of two inmates and injuries to 38 others,” according to the report.

With security beefed up, prison authorities are conducting an investigation to determine the cause of the clashes at the prison, which currently houses 2,417 inmates.