Cameroon fire kills nine prisoners
YAOUNDE (AFP) — Nine prisoners died Wednesday in a fire in Cameroon's notoriously overcrowded and rundown New Bell jail in the west African country's economic capital Douala, the penitentiary's chief said.
The country's most populous jail is crammed with more than four times as many prisoners than its original capacity.
"The fire began around four in the morning in the Regime wing which houses 1,468 prisoners," Joseph Tsala Amougou told AFP over telephone.
"I regret to say there have been nine deaths," mainly due to asphyxiation, he said, adding: "The entire wing has been burnt down."
Conditions at the prison are dire, even by African standards. In June, 16 prisoners were killed while trying to escape from its nightmarish confines.
According to Tsala Amougou, there are 3,421 inmates packed into a space originally meant for a maximum of 800 prisoners. Running water, proper toilets and even beds and mattresses are in short supply and corruption is rampant.
Built in 1935 in the heart of the teeming working-class district, the New Bell prison was originally meant to house a military barracks.
Its filthy yellowing walls are topped by razor wire. There are four rudimentary watch towers and the roads leading to the prison are in a pitiful state. There is often flooding in the jail, which has open drains and toilets.
