An Iranian inmate stabbed two guards and three fellow prisoners with scissors in a Belgian prison before being shot dead by police today.
The 35-year-old man flew into a rage yesterday evening after learning he would be punished for an earlier transgression at the jail in Leuven, about 25 km east of Brussels.
He stabbed a female guard and a fellow prisoner who sought to intervene, both of whom were critically injured in the attack.
Another guard and prisoner were also attacked before the man and an accomplice took another prisoner hostage in a cell.
Police special forces stormed the cell after midnight and shot the man dead. The hostage, whom he had just started to stab, was seriously injured.
The 21-year-old accomplice was taken away by police.
Belgian media reported the Iranian inmate had been handed a 22 year sentence in 2008 for the attempted murder of a doctor. He felt the doctor had not treated him sufficiently.