Ivory Coast: 5 dead in clashes at Bouaké prison

Five inmates at an Ivory Coast prison were killed when a routine search turned into a violent clash, authorities said Wednesday.

Prisoners in Bouaké , the country's second-largest city, reacted with "hostility" to a routine search for contraband on Tuesday, prosecutor Abel Nangbelé Yeo said in a statement. Five prisoners were killed and 29 people, including six prison officers and 23 prisoners, were injured, the statement added.

When security officers arrived at the building, they were attacked by prisoners armed with clubs, machetes and other blunt objects, the statement said. The officers fired warning shots "to cover their retreat," the statement added, without providing details on how the prisoners were killed.

During the search, officers seized blocks of cannabis, Tramadol tablets, mobile phones and three grenades.

Ivory Coast has been criticised by human rights groups and the United Nations for its prison conditions.

Last year, the UN Committee Against Torture expressed concern about the "very high rate" of prison overcrowding in Côte d'Ivoire and criticized detention conditions, including poor hygiene, poor ventilation, and inadequate food and water. It also expressed alarm at "the extent of violence in prisons. "

Earlier this year, a prisoner died during an escape attempt from Bouaké prison. The public prosecutor's office said it had opened an investigation into Tuesday's events.