Reuters

Prisoners look through smashed windows at Kerobokan prison after a riot broke out on Tuesday. Picture: Reuters/Zul Edoardo

Denpasar (Indonesia)- Security forces stormed a riot-hit prison housing murderers, paedophiles and Australian drug mules in Bali, on Wednesday, after a night of arson and rock-throwing.

Guards were forced to abandon the overcrowded Kerobokan prison, which holds 1 000 inmates, including the 12 convicted Australians, during the night-long riot. Authorities said no foreigners were injured or involved.

Kerobokan is one of Indonesia’s most notorious prisons, with a combustible mix of inmates including murderers, sex offenders and other violent crimes.

About 100 heavily armed police and military stormed the jail on the holiday island at around dawn, firing volleys of rubber bullets. Officials said they intervened after their attempts to negotiate with the rioting prisoners had failed.

“They were forced to open fire and three people were injured and taken to hospital,” Bali deputy police chief Ketut Untung Yoga Ana said. Another police official said later that an officer was also injured.

A photographer saw four people with wounds to the arms and legs being taken out of the facility on stretchers and driven away in ambulances, watched over by armed and helmeted officers.

All 12 Australian prisoners at Kerobokan, including two on death row and six serving life sentences, were safe, Australia’s Foreign Ministry said.

“The wing where the Australians are held is far from the place where we had the trouble,” it said.

Among the Australians held at the jail are convicted drug trafficker Schapelle Corby and a group known as the “Bali Nine”, who were caught trying to smuggle drugs from Bali.

Up to 1 000 armed security forces, backed by armoured vehicles and water cannons, were stationed outside the jail early today.

The facility is in a suburban area of Bali 7km from the tourism hub of Kuta Beach.

Police said they were still investigating the cause of the unrest, but local reports said the trouble began when an inmate stabbed another prisoner on Sunday, touching off reprisals that in turn erupted into a full-blown riot.

Prisoners began trashing cells and throwing stones at the guards, who were forced to abandon the jail. It was built for just 300 inmates but now houses more than three times that many prisoners, men as well as women.

“Late in the evening on Tuesday, the prisoners got angry and set fire to one of the offices and began hurling stones at prison staff,” Hariadi said.

Australian media reports said that some inmates had gained access to the registration wing of the prison, within metres of the entrance to the facility, where they set offices and furniture alight. – Sapa-AFP