At least five inmates and one guard were injured during riot inside a notorious Dominican Republic prison on Thursday as inmates demanded to be released over fears of a coronavirus outbreak.
Detainees used smuggled cellphones to record the rebellion as inmates set mattresses in fire and hurled objects at guards and cops, who responded by firing rubber pellets at the overcrowded La Victoria National Penitentiary in Santo Domingo.
Authorities on Thursday said the virus has caused the deaths of four inmates, who were named as Issac Lara De La Cruz and Adalberto Rosario Peña.
Ministry of Public Health personnel wear protective suits as they are surrounded by prisoners that La Victoria National Penitentiary in the Dominican Republic after inmates rioted Thursday due to fears of a coronavirus outbreak. The deadly disease has killed four inmates and sickened 25 others.
Prisoners record the moment a mattress was set on fire inside one of the cells at La Victoria, a notorious jail in the Dominican Republic
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ShareThe Ministry of Public Health said the at least 25 prisoners have tested positive for Covid-19. At least 50 prisoners have been isolated and are in the process of being transferred to newly built jails that have not been opened yet.
On Thursday, an inmate still inside the La Victoria National Penitentiary recorded the moment an injured prisoner was carried away by two jail staffers.
'Look how they're taking him out,' the detainee said. 'They hit him in the head.'
Footage of the riot showed two guards lifting the sheet-covered body of one prisoner.
A prisoner urged President Danilo Medina to take immediate action and consider the well-being of more than 9,000 inmates that are being held in facility that has a capacity of just 1,500.
A group of inmates were caught on video sharpening what appears to be weapons by rubbing them against the jails concrete floor during Thursday's riot at La Victoria. The footage was filmed on a smuggled phone by a prisoner
An inmate armed with a stick was filmed walking around La Victoria as prisoners led a revolt that called for their immediate release from the facility due to concerns of a coronavirus outbreak. The pandemic has resulted in the deaths of four detainees
'The people in La Victoria are rebelling,' he shouted while recording the mayhem. 'The president has to give the order for us to be released.'
Additional video captured by prisoners caught the moment a group of detainees where sharpening what appeared to be weapons by rubbing the edges against the concrete floor.
A prisoner is carried by jail staffers after he was allegedly injured during Thursday's riot at La Victoria, a notorious, overpopulated jail in the Dominican Republic
Four prisoners were treated on-site for minor pellet wounds and another was taken to a local medical center after his arm was seriously injured after he was shot. A cop suffered a hand stab wound.
Jail officials started splitting prisoners last week after several men presented symptoms related to COVID-19 inside the Alaska pavilion.
According to Diario Libre, La Victoria's medical staff performed rapid coronavirus diagnostic testing on about 1,000 inmates last week.
As of Friday, the Dominican Republic has registered 118 deaths and 2,349 confirmed cases related to the coronavirus global pandemic.
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