Nine inmates killed as fire tears through overcrowded prison wing

Nine prisoners were killed when fire ripped through the psychiatric ward of a provincial jail in the Philippines. Wardens as well as inmates scrambled to save prisoners from their cells as the blaze struck the maximum security section of the regional prison on Leyte island. Most of the dead were being held in a special section for inmates with psychological issues or physical infirmities. “Five inmates were patients at the psychiatric ward (and) two inmates were weak, old and (had) eye problems,” justice secretary Leila de Lima said. A tenth inmate remained unaccounted for.

Two inmates were farm workers who initially were already safe but went back inside to help other inmates

Justice secretary Leila de Lima

The fire raged for nearly eight hours, gutting one prison building, before it was finally brought under control. Inspector Constantino Pedrosa, deputy police chief of Abuyog town where the prison was located, said the facility was built for 500 inmates but held 1,256 men at the time. The cause of the fire was still being investigated, Mr Pedrosa added.

Asia-Pacific leyte island