Gitega prison fire

Last updated
Gitega prison fire
Gitega prison fire
Date7 December 2021
Time04:00 CAT
Location Gitega, Burundi
Coordinates 03°25′34″S29°56′08″E / 3.42611°S 29.93556°E / -3.42611; 29.93556
CauseElectrical failure
Deaths38
Non-fatal injuries69+
Property damageUnknown

At approximately 04:00 CAT on 7 December 2021, a fire broke out in an overcrowded prison in Gitega, Burundi, killing at least 38 and injuring more than 69. [1]

Contents

Background

Overcrowding is a major problem in Burundi prisons where, according to October figures, 13,100 inmates live in facilities designed to accommodate no more than 4,100 people. [2] In June, over 5000 inmates received presidential pardons in an attempt to empty the country's overcrowded jails. [2]

According to the Christian Association Against Torture, the prison had the capacity for 400 prisoners, but at the time of the fire it held 1,539 inmates. [1] Most of the inmates were males, however, it had a women's wing as well. It also housed several political prisoners in a high security compound. Earlier in August, a fire broke out in the same prison, which the authorities blamed on electrical problems. [3]

Accident

The blaze started at 04:00 CAT time (02:00 GMT) on 7 December 2021 while many of the inmates were asleep. The Interior Ministry stated in a tweet that a short circuit was responsible for the fire. [4] According to the survivors, the police refused to open the quarters as the flames spread. [5] [1] According to one of the inmates, over 90% of the sleeping halls were burnt. [1] Images circulating online showed a burning building and piles of bodies. [1]

A police source stated that emergency services arrived late with the fire truck reaching the prison two hours after the fire began. [3] Nurses from the Gitega hospital, as well as teams from the Red Cross, arrived at the scene to tend to the victims. [6] Those with minor injuries were treated at the scene, while those with severe burns were taken to a hospital. [3] [1] Vice President Prosper Bazombanza told reporters that 38 people died in the fire. [7]

Of these, twelve died of asphyxia as they attempted to flee the burning building and 26 more died of severe injuries. Many of the victims were elderly inmates. [8] He added that at least 69 were injured. [5]

Aftermath

Vice President Bazombanza, along with several senior ministers visited the scene of the accident. [5] According to witness reports, soldiers and police officers surrounded the site of the fire, preventing journalists from approaching and taking pictures. [3]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abu Ghraib prison</span> 1950s–2014 prison in central Iraq

Abu Ghraib prison was a prison complex in Abu Ghraib, Iraq, located 32 kilometers (20 mi) west of Baghdad. Abu Ghraib prison was opened in the 1950s and served as a maximum-security prison. From the 1970s, the prison was used by Saddam Hussein to hold political prisoners and later the United States to hold Iraqi prisoners. It developed a reputation for torture and extrajudicial killing, and was closed in 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gitega</span> Capital of Burundi

Gitega, formerly Kitega, is the political capital of Burundi. Located in the centre of the country, in the Burundian central plateau roughly 62 kilometres (39 mi) east of Bujumbura, the largest city and former political capital, Gitega is also the second largest city and former royal capital of the Kingdom of Burundi until its abolition in 1966. In late December 2018, Burundian president Pierre Nkurunziza announced that he would follow on a 2007 promise to return Gitega its former political capital status, with Bujumbura remaining as economic capital and centre of commerce. A vote in the Parliament of Burundi made the change official on 16 January 2019, with all branches of government expected to move in over three years.

A prison riot is an act of concerted defiance or disorder by a group of prisoners against the prison administrators, prison officers, or other groups of prisoners.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holman Correctional Facility</span> Alabama prison and execution center

William C. Holman Correctional Facility is an Alabama Department of Corrections prison located in Atmore, Alabama. The facility is along Alabama State Highway 21, 9 miles (14 km) north of Atmore in southern Alabama.

Prison in Chile are generally poor. Prisons often are overcrowded and antiquated, with substandard sanitary conditions.

The 2010 Santiago prison fire occurred in the San Miguel prison in Santiago, Chile on 8 December 2010, in which 81 inmates were killed, making it the country's deadliest prison incident.

On 20 August 2012, armed prisoners in the Yare I prison complex, an overcrowded prison in Miranda state near Caracas, Venezuela, rioted. A shootout between two groups resulted in the deaths of 25 people, one of them a visitor. Among those injured during the incident were 29 inmates and 14 visitors.

On August 23, 2013, a prison riot broke out at Palmasola, a maximum-security prison in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. The riot started when members of one cell block attacked a rival gang in another, using propane tanks as flame throwers. Thirty-one people were killed, including an 18-month-old child who was living at the prison. Thirty-seven others were seriously injured. The riot led to calls for reform in the Bolivian prison system, which is plagued by overcrowding and long delays in the trial system.

The Carl Robinson Correctional Institution is a Connecticut Department of Correction state prison for men located in Enfield, Connecticut. The facility was opened in 1985 for medium-security inmates with a capacity of 880.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Topo Chico prison riot</span> 2016 prison riot in Mexico

On 10 February 2016, a prison riot broke out at the Topo Chico prison near Monterrey, in northern Mexico. 49 inmates were killed during the riot and ensuing fire. The riot was the most deadly in Mexican penal history, surpassing the death toll of the 2012 Apodaca prison riot. After the rioting, authorities uncovered 'luxury cells' prison leaders had. Among the items confiscated included televisions, mini-fridges, aquariums, and saunas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2018 Valencia, Venezuela fire</span> Prison fire in Valencia, Venezuela

On 28 March 2018, a fire broke out during a prison riot in the cells at the Carabobo state police headquarters in Valencia, Carabobo, Venezuela. The fire killed at least 68 people and injured scores of others. The fire is one of the deadliest incidents ever in a Venezuelan prison since the 1994 Sabaneta prison fire, in which more than 100 inmates died.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Acarigua prison riot</span> 2019 prison riot in Acarigua, Venezuela

A group of inmates were involved in a prison riot on 24 May 2019 in the police station cellblocks in Acarigua, Portuguesa state, Venezuela. The riot allegedly began when inmate Wilfredo Ramos was killed following ten days of protests against the denial of visits by relatives.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guanare prison riot</span> Venezuelan prison riot

The Guanare prison riot, also known as the Guanaremassacre, occurred in the Los Llanos prison in Guanare, Portuguesa state, Venezuela, on 1 May 2020. The events caused around 47 deaths, and 75 people were injured.

On 23 February 2021, 79 inmates were killed and several others were injured in riots that took place simultaneously in four prisons in Ecuador. Authorities gave gang rivalry in an overcrowded prison system as the cause. The violence happened in prisons located in the Guayas, Azuay, and Cotopaxi provinces, which contain nearly 70% of the total prison population in the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tangerang prison fire</span> 2021 fire near Jakarta, Indonesia

On 8 September 2021, a fire occurred in an overcrowded prison block in the city of Tangerang, Banten, Indonesia, in Greater Jakarta. The fire began at about 01:45 WIB in sector C of the Tangerang prison, killing 41 inmates and injuring a further 75. More victims succumbed to their injuries in the following days, raising the death toll to 49.

The September 2021 Guayaquil prison riot occurred at the Litoral Penitentiary in Guayaquil, Ecuador on 28 September 2021. At least 123 inmates were killed and several others were injured in the riot that took place in that prison. It was the deadliest prison fight in the country's history and one of the deadliest in Latin American history.

The November 2021 Guayaquil prison riot occurred on 13 November 2021 at the Litoral Penitentiary in Guayaquil, Ecuador, killing at least 68 people and injuring 25.

On 28 June 2022, a fire broke out during a riot inside a prison in Tuluá, Colombia killing at least 52 people and injuring at least 34.

On 15 October 2022, starting around 10:00 local time, a series of incidents including a fire, explosions and automatic gun battles occurred in the Evin Prison in Tehran, Iran, continuing through to early morning 16 October 2022. At least eight inmates died, and 57 others were injured according to Iranian government sources. An IRIB reporter stated that 40 people had died and then corrected herself.

On 20 June 2023, a prison riot broke out in the Women's Center for Social Adaptation, a women's prison located in Támara, Honduras, about 29 km (18 mi) northwest from Tegucigalpa, the nation's capital. The riot is suspected to be the result of a conflict between female members of the MS-13 and 18th Street gangs. Forty-six people were killed, with most from a fire that began amid the chaos. The precise circumstances surrounding the incident are currently being investigated.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Burundi prison fire kills at least 38 in Gitega". BBC News. 2021-12-07. Retrieved 2021-12-07.
  2. 1 2 "Burundi prison fire kills dozens". Deutsche Welle . Retrieved 2021-12-07.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Dozens killed in massive pre-dawn fire at overcrowded Burundi prison". France 24. 2021-12-07. Retrieved 2021-12-07.
  4. "Burundi prison fire kills at least 38 in Gitega". BBC News. 2021-12-07. Retrieved 2021-12-10.
  5. 1 2 3 "Huge fire tears through Burundi prison, kills dozens". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 2021-12-07.
  6. "Heavy casualties feared in huge Burundi prison fire". sports.yahoo.com. Archived from the original on 2021-12-10. Retrieved 2021-12-10.
  7. "Dozens killed in fire at overcrowded Burundi prison | Burundi | The Guardian". amp.theguardian.com. Retrieved 2021-12-07.
  8. "Burundi prison fire kills 38 inmates, injures dozens more – vice president". Reuters. 2021-12-07. Retrieved 2021-12-07.