Epress.am News from Armenia
A riot erupted at a jail in Turkey’s quake-stricken Van province after authorities refused to transfer frightened prisoners to a safer place, relatives told Agence France-Presse.
Shots rang out from the complex, and smoke billowed into the night sky after prisoners set fire to their blankets in protest, the Hurriyet Daily News reported.
Firefighters were called in to put out the blaze.
The prison, which can hold around 1,000 detainees, was damaged in Sunday’s 7.2 magnitude earthquake.
Relatives gathered outside the jail shouting “Erdogan – assassin” in reference to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
The facility is located in the suburbs of Van, capital of the province of the same name where at least 459 people have died in the quake.
Some 200 prisoners escaped from the jail after the tremor, but 50 returned after meeting with their relatives, authorities said.