Thai inmates spark JAIL RIOT, set prison ablaze ‘over fears of catching Covid-19’ (PHOTOS/VIDEOS)

A group of incarcerated Thais set fires and attempted to escape their prison complex after panic spread among them about coronavirus circulating through the compound, according to local media.

The riot began after around 100 prisoners, housed in a facility in Buriram, reportedly became spooked by the possibility of catching the contagious respiratory illness. They began setting fires and causing chaos in the facility, which houses around 20,000 inmates.

Photographs show the trashed interior of the prison, with tables and chairs knocked over and broken.

Buriram Prison after the prisoners' riot ©  AFP

A video posted to social media shows plumes of smoke rising from behind the facility’s security walls as firefighters battle the blaze.

According to local media reports, numerous prisoners attempted to escape the facility. A police spokesman said in a statement that five inmates managed to flee and that one has already been recaptured.

In another clip, security forces can be seen arriving at the scene as police and prison guards attempt to regain control of the complex.

Thailand’s Health Ministry said Sunday that confirmed Covid-19 cases had risen by 143 to 1,388, and these latest deaths had brought the nationwide death toll to seven.The government imposed a partial lockdown on Thursday, and implemented measures specifically designed to prevent an outbreak in prisons, including suspending visits from relatives and putting new inmates in two-week quarantine.

Keeping prison populations calm has proven to be a problem in other parts of the world. In Colombia’s capital, Bogota, at least 23 inmates died and dozens more were injured following a riot over the threat of coronavirus spreading.

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