Zimbabwe prison riot leaves 1 dead, 11 injured
A riot at a prison in Zimbabwe’s capital city of Harare has left one inmate dead, and injured eight other prisoners and three guards.
Local media sources reported that 888 prisoners out of the 4,663 inmates held at the notorious Chikurubi maximum security prison started protesting over the poor quality of food, burning furniture and setting fire to the grounds at the facility.
Others reportedly climbed on tower lights, daring guards to shoot them, saying they were prepared to die. Gunshots could be heard from outside as security forces contained the situation.
The sources added that, two weeks ago, the prisoners had begun a hunger strike, citing the poor quality of food at the prison as the reason.
Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services (ZPCS) spokesperson, Elizabeth Banda-Karinda, said the protest kicked off on Friday as the inmates were released for lunch.
“We don’t know what they really wanted. When we were trying to find out exactly who wanted to eat and who didn’t, there was stampede all over the place,” Banda-Karinda said, adding, “So, we are still investigating to ascertain if the stampede was targeted towards escaping or if it was something else.”
She said no prisoner had escaped and the one dead inmate died in the stampede.
In 2013, Zimbabwean prisons were hit by food shortages due to a lack of funds resulting in the deaths of more than 100 prisoners due to malnutrition and illnesses, according to the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR).
Zimbabwe has a prison population of about 17,000 at 42 facilities.
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