Some prisoners were injured after a riot broke out at Kerobokan prison in Denpasar [Reuters]
Indonesian police have stormed a prison on the resort island of Bali in an attempt to regain control after a riot by inmates.
Prisoners took control of Kerobokan prison, forcing guards to flee, and set fire to parts of the jail following the riot late on Tuesday.
Hundreds of armed police and army personnel stormed the prison early on Wednesday, witnesses said. Shots were heard, and officials said several people had been injured.
Officials said they intervened after attempts to negotiate with the rioting prisoners had failed, and after some inmates managed to get hold of firearms.
“They were forced to open fire and three people were injured in the legs and taken to hospital,” Bali deputy police chief Ketut Untung Yoga Ana said. Another police official said later that an officer was also injured.
Twelve Australian prisoners at Kerobokan, including two on death row and six serving life sentences, were safe, Australia’s foreign ministry said.
“The wing where the Australians are held is far from the place where we had the trouble. The Australians were not involved in any way,” said Bali police spokesman Hariadi.
Fighting at the jail broke out late on Tuesday when inmates attacked a guard post, police said.
Carly Waters, a reporter for Australia’s Channel 7, was on the scene, and told Al Jazeera that the entrance had been badly burned, and over a hundred heavily-armed police had shown up to take control of the situation.
“They are bringing in supplies, like generators,” she said.
Up to 1,000 armed security forces backed by armoured vehicles and water cannon were stationed Wednesday outside the jail, which is in a suburban area of Bali seven kilometres from the tourism hub of Kuta beach.
“When we stormed in, they did put up a fight,” Bali police chief Totoy Herawan Indra told reporters.
“The prisoners also took firearms from inside the warehouse but we seized them before they could be used,” he added.
Police and local reports said the trouble began when one inmate stabbed another prisoner on Sunday, touching off reprisals that erupted into a full-blown riot.
The prison is home to 1,200 inmates. The Australian prisoners include convicted drug traffickers Schappelle Corby
and the so-called Bali Nine.
Prisoners began trashing cells and throwing stones at the guards who were forced to abandon the jail, built for just 300 inmates but now housing more than three times that many prisoners, both male and female.
Police said the inmates were in charge for nearly seven hours — from around 11:00 pm (1500 GMT) Tuesday until 6:45 am (2245 GMT) the next morning.
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