5 inmates killed in Ivory Coast prison when search turns violent

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast — Five inmates at an Ivory Coast prison were killed when a routine search turned into a violent clash, authorities said on Wednesday.

Prisoners in Bouake, the country’s second largest city, reacted with “hostility” to a routine search for prohibited items on Tuesday, public prosecutor Abel Nangbelé Yeo said in a statement. Five prisoners were killed and 29 people, including six prison officers and 23 prisoners, were injured, the statement added.

When security officers arrived in the building, they were attacked by prisoners armed with clubs, machetes, and other blunt objects, the statement said.

The officers fired warning shots “to cover their retreat," the statement added, without providing details on how prisoners were killed.

As a result of the search, officers seized blocks of cannabis, Tramadol tablets, mobile phones and three grenades.

Ivory Coast has been criticized by rights groups and the U.N. for its prison conditions.

Last year, the U.N. Committee against Torture expressed concern over a “very high rate” of prison overcrowding in Ivory Coast, and criticized the condition, including poor sanitation, a lack of ventilation and inadequate quality food and water. It also expressed alarm at “the extent of prison violence.”

Earlier this year, a prisoner died during an escape attempt from the Bouake prison.

The public prosecutor's office said on Tuesday that it had opened an investigation into Tuesday's events.