Six burn to death in Medan prison riot

Six burn to death in Medan prison riot

JAKARTA (JP): Six inmates burned to death in a locked cell as riots broke out in Tanjung Kusta Prison, Medan, North Sumatra, yesterday.

The prison director, Poniman, said that the riot, which involved 600 inmates, was still under police investigation.

"There is no proof that the fracas was planned," he said, as quoted by Antara news agency.

Sources close to the prison said that the riot erupted as six inmates, known as the most notorious to their fellow inmates, attacked each other without reason on Thursday.

To punish the attackers, hundreds of prisoners who had witnessed the assault, grabbed the men at 8 am yesterday morning and threw them into a cell.

They then also threw mattress and pillows inside, set them on fire and locked the cell doors. The six men, whose ages ranged between 29 and 44 years, were burnt alive.

Two of them, including the gang leader, were serving 13 and 20 years jail terms respectively for their involvement in an armed separatist rebellion in Aceh.

Security officers, who arrived later, were too late in their effort to deal with this matter. They managed to retrieve the charred remains from the cell only five hours later, the news agency said. (tis)