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I Coast: 7 die in prison riot
04/11/2004 10:43 - (SA)
Abidjan - Gunshots rang out at the main prison in Ivory Coast's commercial capital on Wednesday, one day after a riot over scarce water left at least seven people dead, an aid worker said.
"The situation is permanently tense," said Antoine Foucher of the French aid group Medecins Sans Frontiers, which works at the prison. "It needs very little to degenerate."
Military police struggled overnight to quell the uprising, which began on Tuesday when inmates launched a riot over water shortages.
At least 30 prisoners were injured in the violence, nine of them seriously.
It was not immediately clear how the fatalities were incurred. Prison guards tried to put down the riot on Tuesday by firing into the air and using tear gas.
Lack of water for days
On Wednesday, gunshots were also heard at the prison, but the origin of the gunfire was unclear, Foucher said.
Water has been cut off for several days in Abidjan's northern Yopougon district, which forced prison authorities to ration remaining supplies, a Justice Ministry official said on condition of anonymity. Water shortages often occur in Ivory Coast and many other African cities.
Several prisoners managed to escape during Tuesday's chaos, the Justice Ministry official said.
Medecins Sans Frontiers runs a health and sanitary program at the prison. Foucher said the agency's offices there were also looted.
The prison was built to hold about 1 500 people, but is now severely overcrowded with about 5 500 inmates, Foucher said.
Ivory Coast has been divided between rebel-held north and government-held south since a failed coup attempt in September 2002 sparked months of civil war in the world's top cocoa producer.
Edited by Andiswa Mesatywa
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