Twenty detainees were killed in a fire in an Algerian prison started by a convict who had been sentenced to death, state television reported Wednesday.
A man convicted of murder started the fire Tuesday in a cell at Chelgoum-Laid jail near northeastern Constantine, some 430 kilometers east of Algiers, the Constantine public prosecutor's office said in a statement, according to AFP.
Emergency services intervened quickly and prevented the fire spreading to other cells, according to the statement read on television.
Algerian jail cells are notoriously overcrowded in a way that could explain the high number of fatalities reported in the incident. An inquiry into the matter has begun. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
