Georgetown: Seventeen prisoners in the Capital Section of the Georgetown Prison at Camp and Durban Streets died Wednesday evening as result of a riot in the Capital Section which houses murder suspects on remand.
According to senior security personnel, the prisoners prior to the unrest at the jail, were being removed from the Capital section to another part of the prison when things got out of hand.
It was reported that during the movement, one prisoner became rowdy and protested against the officer who was supervising the transfer. The others then began to cheer him on and as they were about to enter the holding area where they are usually searched for contraband, the prisoners rushed into a room where they locked an eight-foot high steel door and barricaded themselves inside with metal beds.
One of the prisoners then lit a mattress as part of the protest and the Fire Service was summoned but the fire quickly got out of control and the prisoners then attempted to free themselves from the room they had commandeered.
The prison officers then employed the Standard Operating Procedures and attempted to blow torch the door open, but by the time they had completed that exercise, they found multiple lifeless and charred remains of the prisoners.
It was confirmed that 17 persons died while others received medical attention at the Georgetown Public Hospital. Of five other prisoners, two were treated and sent away while up to late on Thursday evening three were still hospitalized in critical condition at the facility.
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