Nine people have been killed in a prison riot near the Syrian capital of Damascus today, according to a human rights activist in contact with the prisoners.
Mohammed Abdullah, a Beirut-based Syrian activist, said he was in contact with the prisoners through a mobile phone belonging to one of the guards they had taken hostage.
The government did not immediately confirm the incident. However, Syrian authorities generally do not comment on human rights reports or the situation inside prisons.
Muhannad al-Hassani, the head of Syria’s National Organisation for Human Rights, said he could see smoke billowing from the prison and prisoners standing on the roof.
He added that ambulances were ferrying the wounded to the hospital.
The website of the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights web site said 25 prisoners had been killed in the riots.
PA