Seven killed in brawl at US jail

SEVEN inmates died and 17 were hurt after an outbreak of violence at a maximum-security jail.

Police were called in to quell the trouble at Lee Correctional Institution in South Carolina on Sunday.

Multiple fights had started between inmates just after 7pm but no guards were wounded, according to state prisons spokesman Jeff Taillon.

The dead inmates were stabbed or slashed with homemade knives.

The jail in Bishopville houses about 1,500 prisoners. Two officers were stabbed there in 2015 and one inmate killed another in February.