Thai inmates riot to demand better COVID-19 treatment

BANGKOK (AP) — Hundreds of inmates have set fire at a prison in southern Thailand in a riot over demands for better medical care for those suffering from COVID-19. Thailand’s justice minister says some 400 inmates at Krabi’s main provincial prison became violent Thursday night when a core group demanded that those infected with the coronavirus be removed from the facility for treatment. About 300 police and other security personnel were sent in as the destruction escalated. Three inmates who tried to climb over the prison wall were injured with rubber bullets. The provincial governor agreed to send 14 inmates with severe COVID-19 symptoms for treatment. Coronavirus infection has hit Thailand’s 300,000-strong prison population hard with 86,432 cases, including 185 deaths.