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A group of 17 prisoners continue to control a section of the Waikeria prison as the unrest at the facility enters its third day.
The Department of Corrections confirmed Thursday morning that nothing at the Waikato prison had changed overnight.
The prison remains closed as a tense standoff with 17 prisoners continues.
A spokesperson for the Department of Corrections said that New Zealand Fire & Emergency, Police and St John remain in prison and are working with Corrections staff.
“The situation remains unchanged overnight, so there are no updates,” the spokesman said. Stuff.
Dominico Zapata / Things
Prisoners can be seen on the roof of a unit at Waikeria prison after the riots that began Tuesday.
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“If there are any significant changes, we will give an update, but currently it remains the same.”
The first images of the prison, taken from the air by Stuff, show the destruction left by inmates who rebelled and started lighting fires on Tuesday afternoon.
Rows upon rows of roofs have collapsed and the interior of most of the facility’s buildings has been destroyed and charred.
The riot is believed to be in opposition to the conditions inmates say they have experienced in Waikeria over the past year.
Dominico Zapata / Things
Major structural damage at Waikeria prison after inmates started a fire. Some of them remain on the roof of the prison.
The riots began around 2 pm Tuesday when fires broke out in the ‘upper jail’ facility in an exercise yard.
The prisoners had been setting the mattresses on fire, the Department of Corrections said.
Waikeria’s prison population numbers around 750 inmates, representing approximately 7.2% of the country’s prison population. About 250 beds are located in the main Waikeria jail facilities.
The upper jail facility is one of the oldest parts of the prison, it was built in 1911 and was to be replaced with a new facility scheduled to open in 2022.
A spokesperson for the Department of Corrections said Stuff Wednesday morning that while the condition of the building still needed to be assessed, it was unlikely that the prisoners could be held there again.
Google maps
The area where the Waikeria prison riots are taking place can be seen in the lower right.
