At least 19 killed during a prison riot in Sri Lanka

At least 15 prisoners and four guards were killed during Riot".

Ghamlat added that "Some victims sustained gunshot wounds".

Police special forces units were called in as reinforcements but did not enter the prison campus, while many family members of the prisoners gathered outside the facility.

In December 2020, a mutiny inside a prison in Sri Lanka during the Covid pandemic resulted in the death of 11 people and the injury of 117 others, prompting the then government to release hundreds of prisoners.

According to official statistics, the number of prisoners in Sri Lanka reached 41,250 as of Sunday, Equivalent to four times the capacity of prisons.