Four injured in prison arson attack

One inmate in serious condition, two others and prison guard lightly hurt after blaze started in cell

Stuart Winer is a breaking news editor at The Times of Israel.

View of the Shita prison, located in northern Israel, February 28, 2013. (Moshe Shai/FLASH90)
View of the Shita prison, located in northern Israel, February 28, 2013. (Moshe Shai/FLASH90)

One inmate was seriously injured and three others were lightly hurt overnight Monday after a fire was started in a prison cell at the Shita Prison in the north of the country.

The fire started close to midnight, and soon after, prison guards, equipped with fire-fighting equipment, pulled the prisoners in the cell to safety and then put out the flames.

Aside from the seriously injured prisoner, two other prisoners in the cell and a prison guard suffered from smoke inhalation. All four were taken to the Emek Medical Center in Afula for treatment.

The blaze started when one of the prisoners tried to set his cellmate on fire, Channel 2 reported.

“If it were not for the quick, professional, and determined actions of the prison staff, a great tragedy would have been caused that would have cost lives,” the prison warden said.

The three prisoners in the cell, all residents of the West Bank, were serving sentences of between for to eight years for criminal offenses including robbery and property crimes.

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