Inmates set fire to overcrowded Sumatran prison

Up in smoke: Firemen and police at the scene as smoke billows from the prison during the riot at Kabanjahe in North Sumatra. — AP

MEDAN: Angry inmates set fire to an overcrowded prison on Indonesia’s Sumatra island during a riot, officials said.

Hundreds of police and soldiers were yesterday deployed to take control of Kabanjahe prison in North Sumatra province, which is designed to house 193 inmates but now has more than 400, said Sri Puguh Budi Utami, director general of corrections at the Justice and Human Rights Ministry.