10 July, 2017
He said so far, there is no further word of any other escapees.
GEORGETOWN, Guyana-A prison guard is dead following a riot that left Camp Street Prisons, in the heart of the capital city, destroyed.
During a late-night press conference with Heads of the security forces, Persaud said that among the five escapees is Royden Williams who was recently sentenced to death for the Bartica Massacre.
The identities of the other inmates who fled were not immediately known.
A number of inmates also caused havoc at a prison officer's club building opposite the jail after being escorted there, smashing bottles of alcohol that they poured onto clothing before igniting it.
Apart from the reported death, several prison officers and prisoners were rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) for treatment.
Prisoners are being evacuated from the facility. He said officials were still trying to determine if anyone had died in the fire, though he feared there could be more dead.
Samuels said prior to Sunday afternoon's fire, there was no sign of unrest within the facility.
Prisoners being shuttled away from the burning prison.
Some 300 of them would be transferred to other facilities, he said, as authorities figure out where to hold the others.
As such he commended efforts of the joint services to have those prisoners transported to other holding facilities across the country. "This is a very unfortunate incident", he said.
In all, two prisoners were shot while attempting to escape and eight prison wardens were either chopped or shot.
A building across the road from the prison along Durban Street caught afire but the blaze was extinguished by the firemen.
Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan backed up the President call for the prisoners to be securely relocated. He also said authorities would explore how to deal with the more than 500 remanded prisoners, many of whom can not afford to lodge cash bail to secure their pre-trial liberty. The views expressed therein are not necessarily those of stlucianewsonline.com, its sponsors or advertisers.
