Inmates in prisons across Italy have rioted after the country placed new restrictions on jail visits during its massive coronavirus outbreak.
More than two dozen prisons in Italy experienced riots on Sunday, including one where prisoners climbed onto the roof and tried to escape. The new emergency measures ban jail visits out of fears of the virus spreading further. Italy has had more than 7,300 cases and at least 366 deaths.
In Modena, dozens of inmates set a prison on fire and tried to escape over the weekend. Army forces and military police responded and were able to prevent the almost 500 inmates there from escaping. During the chaos, some prisoners were able to steal methadone and other drugs, and six people died from subsequent drug overdoses.
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Alessio Scandurra, coordinator of adult detention advocacy at the prisoner rights group Antigone Association, told the Associated Press that prisons are particularly vulnerable to infectious disease outbreaks.
“In prisons in general, there’s a lot of anxiety,” Scandurra said. “You can’t leave, and you’re in a place where infectious diseases can spread critically. Obviously, inmates know this very well.”
At the San Vittore prison in Milan, inmates managed to make their way to the roof and unfurled a painted sheet with the word “indulto,” which means “pardon” in Italian.
In the United States, there have been more than 600 confirmed cases of coronavirus as of Monday afternoon. Trading at the New York Stock Exchange was temporarily frozen after the S&P 500 index dropped 7% at open.
