Denpasar - Indonesian police stormed a prison on the resort island of Bali on Wednesday in an attempt to regain control after inmates took over and set it on fire in a riot during which at least two prisoners had been shot and wounded, officials said.
Australia's Foreign Ministry earlier said it was urgently checking on the welfare of 12 Australian prisoners held in the Kerobokan jail, but Indonesian police said none of about 60 foreign prisoners were among the casualties.
Police shot two inmates in the legs when they were confronted by a mob wielding sickles and throwing bricks. Fighting at the jail broke out late on Tuesday, police said.
“We are still trying to control the situation at the Kerobokan prison. We are trying to make the inmates go back into their blocks,” national police spokesman Saud Usman Nasution said.
The prison is home to 1 200 inmates. The Australian prisoners include convicted drug traffickers Schappelle Corby and the so-called Bali Nine.
Police said the prison warden fled and prisoners took control after setting fire to offices late on Tuesday.
Nasution said conflict at the prison had first started about a week ago when two inmates had a knife-fight, leading to a split in the wider prison population that developed into a bigger fight between two rival groups. - Reuters