Five shot in prison riot
< N.Z.P. A.-Reuter—Copyright) SYDNEY, Feb. 3 Five prisoners have been admitted to hospital with gunshot wounds after a bloody uprising at the maximum security Bathurst gaol, 130 miles west of Sydney, today. During the rioting 250 prisoners seized control of the gaol and lit several fires which destroyed large sections of the multimillion dollar building. The prisoners admitted to hospital were reported to have been shot in the legs after trying to light a fire under one of the guard towers.
The rioting began after the prisoners stormed from their cells in a wellorganised charge after lunch, forcing prison officers to retreat to the gaol’s perimeter wall. More than 100 prison officers, many armed with rifles, were called to the gaol after the outbreak of violence. A spokesman for the Minister of Justice (Mr Maddison) said fires lit by the prisoners damaged 70 per cent of the prison. The fierce heat from the blazes forced the prisoners into the prison’s central exercise yard where they were under heaw guard.
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Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33450, 4 February 1974, Page 18
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173Five shot in prison riot Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33450, 4 February 1974, Page 18
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