Reuters in Niamey
Tuesday August 31, 1999
At least 20 prisoners suspected of leading a mutiny in a Niger jail last week suffocated to death after being crowded into a special security cell, judicial sources said yesterday. Some sources said the number of deaths could rise to 30.
It was not clear when the men died but their deaths were formally certified yesterday. Witnesses said that the ruling military junta's spokesman, the public prosecutor and the head of police were present.
The man in charge of the jail, in Niger's capital, Niamey, was reported to have been arrested.
The mutiny took place last Thursday, when prisoners protesting at delays in the hearing of their cases took the director of the prison administration hostage. Security forces were able to free him using tear gas and truncheons.
Witnesses said the suspected ringleaders were arrested and crammed into a small and airless security cell.
Prisons in the West African country, where soldiers seized power after the April killing of President Ibrahim Bare Mainassara, are outdated and run down. Less than three weeks ago, a prison wall collapsed in Diffa killing four inmates.
