Bloem prison hostage drama ends

2009-11-03 08:26

Bloemfontein - Three prison employees held hostage at a Bloemfontein prison have been rescued by a police task force team, a spokesperson for the prison operator said on Tuesday.

Managing director for G4S Care and Justice Services Frikkie Venter said the special task force relieved the hostages about 05:00 on Tuesday.

"A special task team relieved the hostages and inmates from the exercise area where they had barricaded themselves."

Venter said the employees and the 10 inmates were not seriously injured during the police action.

"The employees were brought to a hospital for observations but we expect them to be released by today [Tuesday]."

The group of 10 inmates in the high security section of the Mangaung Correctional Centre (MCC) outside Bloemfontein set fire to their cells on Monday afternoon.

They later barricade themselves in the exercise area, holding three employees hostage.

The fire was extinguished by the MCC's fire response team with the assistance of the city fire brigade.

The prison's incident response team attempted to resolve the situation on Monday, while the police's special task force was called in during the night.

Venter said, as prison operator, they would discuss the incident with the department of correctional services on Tuesday.

The 10 inmates were apparently unhappy that they could not be transferred to a medium security correctional centre near their homes.

"However, their behaviour does not justify a transfer to a medium security prison and I cannot support it," Venter said, adding that the state should not be held hostage by criminals making demands.

- SAPA