Sri Lanka prison unrest kills 3, wounds 23, minister says

Sri Lanka deployed troops to its main maximum-security prison in Colombo and two other jails on Friday after unsuccessful breakout attempts in which three inmates were killed and 23 were wounded, Public Security Minister Ananda Wijepala said.

Wijepala told parliament that one inmate was killed and 10 others were wounded after guards stopped about 40 convicts trying to escape from Welikada Prison in Colombo on Thursday night. He said the situation at Welikada had been brought under control.

Similar unrest was reported at a prison in Kuruwita, about 80 kilometres southeast of Colombo. Wijepala said two inmates were killed and 13 others were wounded there, and that security forces had been deployed and order restored.

Unrest was also reported at Pallansena, north of Colombo, where 30 inmates climbed onto the roof and refused to return to their cells after breakfast on Friday.

Sri Lankan jails have faced several weeks of unrest. Officials said earlier that 10 guards and 23 inmates were killed in two separate riots at two other prisons outside Colombo since last month.

Officials have attributed the unrest to acute overcrowding. Sri Lanka's prisons hold about four times their intended capacity. Authorities announced plans last month to convert disused state buildings into prisons, but new facilities have not yet been added.

More than three-quarters of inmates in Sri Lanka are remand prisoners awaiting trial, with most held in connection with drug offences.

Wijepala said he saw a pattern in the incidents and suspected a conspiracy, but gave no further details.