Lebanon: 4 prisoners killed in prison fire

Four prisoners were killed by a fire inside Zahle Prison in eastern Lebanon after several prisoners started the fire for unknown reasons.

A Lebanese security official said: “The fire was set during a rebellion, leading to some cells being completely burned.”

He noted: “Rebellion in the prison began after the prison guards discovered a hole in the wall made by prisoners in preparation for a mass escape.”

The security official explained: “When we started closing the hole, confrontations broke out between the security personnel and prisoners, after which a state of chaos spread as prisoners set fire to their cells, leading to a number of them being completely burned and three prisoners dying due to the fire and suffocation.”

The official Lebanese National News Agency announced on Friday: “There have been four victims so far and cases of suffocation due to the prison fire in Zahle. The civil defence forces (firefighters) used hydraulic shearing machines to rescue the injured.”

They reported: “The army and security services intensified their deployment around the prison building, while members of the Civil Defence and the Red Cross worked to transfer the injured to Al-Muallaqa Governmental Hospital in Zahle.”

Eyewitnesses said that they: “Saw dozens of ambulances rushing to the prison while smoke clouds rose from the second floor of the prison, housing about 650 prisoners.”

According to witnesses, ambulances belonging to the International Committee of the Red Cross and Civil Defence are working to transfer several injured people to President Elias Governmental Hospital in Zahle for treatment.

Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi has been following the developments, according to the Lebanese news agency.

A statement issued by his office confirmed that the minister contacted Army Commander Joseph Aoun, calling for support and protection of the prison vicinity, and Director General of Civil Defence Raymond Khattar to reinforce the civil defence units working to extinguish the fire and evacuate prisoners from inside their cells.

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