Police provoked them, prisoners set the cells on fire

A fire has included much of a prison in Russia's Siberian region, following a riot from prisoners who accused guards of mistreating them. Authorities say prisoners at the High Security Criminals No. 15, a guard who had tried to help a prisoner with a wound was attacked.

Some prisoners staged protests that they were beaten by a guard as punishment, activists said. Several Russian human rights websites wrote on Saturday. Activists say the absence of a search by outsiders gives the guards a force to use violence. Officials said the riots in the city of Angarsk, which erupted on Thursday, were now under control and had launched an investigation. Russian prisons have been closed since the end of last month to prevent the spread of the coronary.

Russia's penal service said in a statement: “One of the prisoners failed to comply with the guards' orders and began to rebel. At the same time, several other prisoners began to cause damage to themselves”.

She added that a guard was injured and sent to the hospital.

However, human rights groups said the riots had erupted after a prisoner was beaten by a prison officer.