Seven inmates killed and 17 hurt in prison riot
SEVEN inmates were killed and several others left fighting for their lives following a riot at one of America’s most notorious prisons.
Violence erupted at the maximum security Lee Correctional Institution, which houses some of South Carolina’s most violent rapists and murderers.
Fighting soon engulfed three units and it took prison guards and riot police almost eight hours to regain control.
But as they entered cells they found seven men had been murdered .
Seventeen injured inmates were rushed to hospitals following the violent outbreak on Sunday evening with officials fearing that the death toll could still rise. No guards were wounded.
Corrections spokesman Jeff Taillon said: “Lee Correctional Institution was secured at 2.55am following an incident which started at 7.15pm.
“The incident involved multiple inmate-on-inmate altercations in three housing units (and) resulted in 17 inmates requiring outside medical attention and seven inmates were killed.”
The facility in Bishopville has about 1,500 hardcore prisoners.
An inmate was killed last July during a fight and another died in February in a bust-up with another prisoner. Two officers were stabbed in a 2015 fight. Ambulances at jail