17 dead, several injured in Georgetown prison riot

The series of fires which took place at the Camp Street prison in Georgetown, between Wednesday evening and Thursday (noon) is said to be as a result of a raid being conducted in the Capital Offences Section ‘A’ in the jail by prison officers.

This raid unearthed 19 cellular phones and a quantity of illegal drugs which were found to be in the possession of prisoners.

Following the seizure of these items by prison officers, the inmates began their form of protest by setting mattresses afire.

According to the Officer in Charge (OIC) of the Georgetown Prison, Superintendent Kelvin Pilgrim, there were nine fires which occurred at the location by the hands of prisoners.

However, the fires were all successfully extinguished as the prisoners continued to demand that the items which had been seized (cellular phones and narcotics) be returned to them.

This publication understands that due to the fact that their demands had not been met on Wednesday night when the series of fires took place, the prisoners continued their ‘fire lighting’ exercise again on Thursday.

Pilgrim has confirmed that 16 inmates thus far have met their demise as a result of the fire.

Meanwhile, ‘A’ Division Commander, Clifton Hicken has confirmed that five other prisoners who were injured during the blaze are presently receiving medical attention at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC).

“I can confirm that in excess of 10 bodies have been found, but it is too soon to say what the total figure will be…we are still working here at the Prison so it is too soon to conclude what the death toll is…we are placing safety first so we are working hard right now,” he declared.

In light of this situation, President David Granger convened an emergency meeting on Thursday afternoon with top security officials where he declared that there be an immediate establishment of a Commission of Inquiry (CoI) to investigate the disturbances at the jail.

President Granger, at the emergency meeting of the National Security Committee (NSC) instructed Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan, to set up the three-member Commission, which will be tasked with investigating the circumstances surrounding the deaths of the prisoners as well as to make recommendations to prevent the occurrence of similar incidents.

It is expected that the names of the members of this Commission will be made public within the next 24 hours.