Two new fires add to Vic prison unrest

The Victorian government is tallying the cost of the prison riot as inmates start two new fires and three separate inquiries get under way.

AAP

Police march into Ravenhall Prison, where inmates are rioting over a smoking ban that takes place tomorrow in Melbourne, Tuesday, June 30, 2015. Staff were evacuated from the Melbourne prison where masked inmates carrying makeshift weapons are rioting. (AAP Image/Mal Fairclough) NO ARCHIVING Source: AAP

Inmates have lit two new fires as unrest continues at a Melbourne remand centre in the worst prison riot in Victoria's history.

Few pockets of the Metropolitan Remand Centre were left untouched as hundreds of prisoners went on the rampage on Tuesday over a statewide prison smoking ban.

The damage is estimated to run into millions of dollars.

Prisoners broke doors and furniture, set fires, wrecked staff areas, dragged bedding into a courtyard and set it ablaze, and smashed toilet bowls and basins.

Two new fires were lit inside cells on Thursday following similar blazes at the centre and at the nearby Port Phillip prison and Dame Phyllis Frost women's prison since Tuesday.

No one was injured and the centre remains in lockdown. Family visits have been suspended indefinitely.


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