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An inmate is understood to have been left badly injured after after a major riot and fire ripped through Yatala Labour Prison in Adelaide yesterday.
Reports suggest officers had attempted to transport two “high-risk” inmates – men aged 23 and 31 respectively – yesterday afternoon when the pair became “unpredictable” and “dangerous”.
“They were being abusive and threatening towards staff and towards the supervisor of the unit,” Department for Correctional Services CEO David Brown said.
“Their behaviour escalated to the point where they started a fire in the cell.”
As a precaution, more than 150 inmates were moved to an outdoor yard, where they too started to fight.
As a result, the riot squad was called in, triggering an emergency response.
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Firefighters rushed to the scene to extinguish the blaze while paramedics treated staff suffering from smoke inhalation.
“Our members went in and potentially saved the lives of these prisoners but at great personal risk,” Public Service Association assistant general secretary Natasha Brown said.
“I do not believe there was sufficient staff to be able to go and break up those fights as quickly and efficiently as they would normally be able to do.”
SA Police is conducting its own investigation, but wouldn’t be drawn on whether the two prisoners would face further charges.
“Both prisoners are going to be separated when they are safe to return to our custody and they’ll find themselves in G division (the jail’s solitary unit),” Brown said.
The corrections boss defended his department’s initial handling of the incident, in which it publicly stated no one had been hurt.
