Some 350 inmates in a prison in Turkey’s earthquake-hit province of Hatay have been transferred to other cities, following a prison riot on Wednesday, Mezopotamya news agency reported on Saturday.
The prisoners have been sent to Diyarbakır, Adana, Yozgat, Uşak and Antalya provinces, Mezopotamya said, adding that most of the prison had been destroyed following the riot.
At least three prisoners were killed in Hatay prison, after inmates set their wards on fire, saying they were unable to contact their families and asking to be transferred to a safer location following Monday’s devastating twin quakes that caused severe damage in the country’s Arab and Kurdish majority province.
“There was a riot in the prison. Following this news, we got in touch with the prison authorities. There were transfers after the riots,” an executive of the Human Rights Association (İHD) Hatay branch told Mezopotamya news, adding that they could not access the lists of people being transferred.
“We only know that the prison has been emptied and inmates have been transferred to other prisons. We have no information about their whereabouts,” said Mehdi Zana, a lawyer from the Lawyers for Freedom Association, advising the families of the prisoners to call authorities to get information.
