Three prisoners die in riot and escape attempts at Turkish prisons in earthquake-hit zone

Three prisoners die in riot and escape attempts at Turkish prisons in earthquake-hit zone
Escape attempts were made from the two prisons during the mayhem of the earthquake aftermath. / Screenshot.
By Akin Nazli in Belgrade February 10, 2023

Three prisoners died and 12 were wounded as an attempted revolt at Turkey’s Hatay T Type Closed Prison was supressed, the Turkish general directorate of prisons and detention houses said on February 8.

Some prisoners at the facility in Hatay province, one of the provinces devastated at the start of this week by two major earthquakes, lit a fire and attempted to escape, according to the directorate. The prison was damaged by the revolt and prisoners were transferred to other locations, it added.

In a separate statement, the directorate said that video footage circulating on media was not shot at the Hatay T Type Prison but at Turkoglu Number 1 L Type Closed Prison in Maras province.

An escape attempt at that prison was also suppressed, but there were no casualties.

Video: Turkish directorate clarified that this video footage was not shot at Hatay Prison but at Turkoglu Prison, which also suffered an escape attempt.

On February 7, following the earthquakes, more than 20 suspected jihadists escaped from a prison in Roja town of Syria, which neighbours Turkey’s Hatay province and was also heavily impacted by the earthquakes. The prison was hosting around 2,000 inmates, including 1,300 Islamic State militants.

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