Seven killed in South Carolina prison riot

BISHOPVILLE, United States: Seven inmates were killed and 17 others injured in a riot at a maximum security prison in South Carolina overnight, one of the deadliest outbreaks of prison violence in the United States in decades, authorities said on Monday.

Fights among inmates erupted on Sunday evening at the Lee Correctional Institution in Bishopville, South Carolina, and were brought under control at 2:55 am on Monday.

"The incident at Lee CI resulted in 17 inmates requiring outside medical attention and seven inmates were killed," the South Carolina Department of Corrections (SCDC) said on its Twitter account.

All prison guards and law enforcement authorities who responded were "safe and accounted for," it said. The department had initially described the riot as an "ongoing incident," only revealing the scope of the problem hours after its start at 7:15 pm on Sunday.