US guards kill four in Iraqi prison riot

February 1, 2005

Four prisoners at Camp Bucca Theatre Internment Facility near Umm Qasr in southern Iraq, were killed by US guards during a riot that broke out at the facility yesterday. The US military has also stated that 6 other detainees were injured during the riot.

A statement from the US military said that the riot started just after noon, in one of the camp's ten compounds, following a routine search for contraband.

"The riot quickly spread to three additional compounds, with detainees throwing rocks and fashioning weapons from materials inside their living areas," the statement said. "Guards attempted to calm the increasingly volatile situation using verbal warnings and, when that failed, by use of non-lethal force. After about 45 minutes of escalating danger, lethal force was used to quell the violence." The statement said.

"The cause of the riot and use of lethal force is currently under investigation by the chain of command and the US Army's Criminal Investigations Division, which is standard procedure whenever a detainee death occurs," the statement continued.