At least 26 people killed in Sri Lanka prison clashes

(Al Jazeera Media Network) At least 26 people have been killed and more than 100 wounded during the worst prison riot in Sri Lanka in years.

Fighting between rival groups of inmates at the prison in Negombo, about 35 km (22 miles) north of the capital, Colombo, started on Sunday and escalated on Monday, according to local media reports and police.

Two prisoners were killed on Sunday, when clashes between long-term convicts and those under temporary detention broke out.

In a deadlier round of fighting on Monday, 23 people were killed including six prison officers.

“The fight broke out when the prisoners were being served breakfast,” Chamika Gajanayake, media spokesman for the Department of Prisons, told reporters near the prison.

Gajanayake described the cause of violence as linked to drug trafficking, but he declined to give details, saying an investigation was being launched.

Footage from Derana TV showed a heavy police presence outside the gate of ‌the prison as a police bus carrying the injured inmates, some of them sprawled ‌on ‌its floor, left the premises.

Pushpa Gamlath, director of the Negombo hospital, said the facility had received 23 bodies, and more than 100 wounded inmates and guards had also been admitted to hospital.

“Some had gunshot wounds, cuts and severe bruises. We transferred 18 of the more seriously wounded to the Colombo National hospital.” Gamlath said.

As news of the mayhem spread, female inmates from the adjoining prison climbed on to the roof of their facility and demanded to be released.

Sir Lanka’s air force sent a helicopter and several drones to monitor the prison.

“Military has been requested to provide support to the police, but at ⁠the moment they are on standby,” army spokesman Brigadier Waruna Gamage told Reuters.

“This is something that should never have occurred,” Justice Minister Harshana Nanayakkara told reporters.

“Whether they were inmates, or associated with the underworld, is not relevant to us at this moment.”

Sri Lanka’s government has announced a three-member team headed by a retired Supreme Court justice to investigate the riot.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/7/6/at-least-19-people-killed-in-sri-lanka-prison-clashes