Twenty prisoners were killed in Madagascar as the authorities attempted to stop a riot in a prison in the south of the island, said the justice ministry.
The trouble began at the prison in Farafagana at around 12:00 with inmates splitting into two groups and attacking guards with stones, the ministry outlined in a statement on Facebook.
They also seized a gun.
Eight prisoners were seriously injured, along with the 20 who were shot dead, as the authorities tried to regain control.
According to the justice ministry, twenty-nine other prisoners were recaptured but by 16:00, 31 inmates were still free.
It is not clear how the violence began but in 2018 Amnesty International reported that Madagascar’s prisons were “dilapidated, ill-equipped, with [a] lack of financial, material and general support”.
It also highlighted how people can spend years in pre-trial detention.
