Scores injured in Quezon City Jail riot

Several inmates of the Quezon City Jail were injured after a riot broke out yesterday afternoon.

As of 6 p.m., city jail officials had imposed strict security in the jail premises, preventing inmates from receiving visitors.

The rumble occurred at around 12 noon while all the inmates were at the jail’s basketball court for routine physical fitness exercises.

Timely arrival of elements of the Central Police District-Special Weapons and Tactics prevented serious injury among inmates, who were immediately herded into their respective cells.

But one of the injured inmates, Christian Catalan, was taken to the jail infirmary for treatment of first-degree burns in the body after another inmate doused him with a kettle of boiling water at the height of the riot.

Investigation showed that the riot started after an unidentified member of the Sigue-Sigue Sputnik gang pelted stones at inmate Miguel Cereram, a member of rival Batang City Jail gang.

According to officer-on-case SPO3 Reynato Resureccion of the Kamuning police Station 10, a jail guard hit an inmate with a nightstick when he refused to be pacified during the commotion.

Reporters and photographers, who tried to cover the incident, were prevented by jail guards from entering the premises. – Cecille Suerte Felipe and Nikko Dizon