MONTREAL — A decision by eight inmates to stay put as a fiery jailhouse skirmish erupted around them proved deadly at a provincial detention centre in suburban Quebec City.
Once the flames were extinguished, two were found dead and the other six were rushed to hospital.
The violence broke out between inmates in a wing holding 14 prisoners at the Orsainville jail Wednesday night.
Shortly after, unruly inmates set fire to a mattress and clothing, Quebec’s public security department said.
The bodies of Eric Adamson Yaouvi, 20, and Denis Ampleman, 45, were found after the blaze was extinguished.
How the men died and what prompted the disturbance remains a mystery for now.
“It was an altercation involving somebody who was incarcerated, but we don’t know what set it off,” said Johanne Beausoleil of the public security department.
“It’s obviously a tragic and deplorable event.”
The inmates involved ranged in age between 20 and 50 and all of them were being detained while they awaited the completion of their various trials.
Autopsies will be conducted to determine the cause of the men’s deaths.
The six injured were rushed to hospital for treatment, mainly for burns and smoke inhalation.
Officials expected four of the men to be returned to the detention centre Thursday, while the other two injured inmates were to be kept in hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries.
No prison employees were hurt in the melee.
Beausoleil said guards tried to evacuate the wing, but were unable to corral eight inmates who refused to leave.
“The fire had to be controlled as well,” she said of the blaze, which caused minor smoke and water damage to the institution.
Three investigations were immediately launched — by provincial police, by the coroner’s office and another by public security officials.
Beausoleil contends that overpopulation was not a cause since the centre can hold up to 710 offenders, and it contained only 631 prisoners Wednesday.
One criminologist cited boredom and anxiety as possible triggers for Wednesday’s outburst.
He said accused often spend months or even a year behind bars waiting for the outcome of their legal cases.
“Prisoners waiting for trial are incarcerated with nothing to do,” said Jean-Claude Bernheim, president of the Quebec Prisoners’ Rights Committee.
“We know the waiting time is very stressful because the person doesn’t know their future.”
He blamed insufficient funding for what he describes as rapidly declining conditions on the inside.
“They don’t have enough guards for the population inside,” Bernheim said.
“When you have a big prison institution like that you always have problems because you have personal conflict between inmates and between inmates and guards.”
And as Ottawa continues to push its tough-on-crime agenda, the delays will get even longer, he added.
Bernheim noted the men who died in Wednesday’s outburst had been charged with crimes, but are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
The Orsainville detention centre was also the scene of a riot in February 2008, which was apparently triggered by a smoking ban at the facility.
If the men died from the blaze and not direct violence, the prison’s fire-safety measures must be improved, Bernheim added.