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.

Police march into Ravenhall Prison.

A taskforce has been set up to find the inmates responsible for Melbourne's Ravenhall Prison riot. (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.

A Corrections Victoria spokesman would not confirm what started the fires on Thursday, but said all tobacco products and smoking accessories were now contraband and would be confiscated.

Precautionary lockdowns, or other restricted regimes, remain in place at Victoria's other big prisons to prevent copycat flare-ups.

Court lists have been thrown into disarray, and the transport of remandees to court appearances is not due to resume until Friday.

"We have taken preventative action across the system," the spokesman told AAP.

The Victorian government has begun assessing the damage, the costs of which are estimated about $10 million.

"That is not a confirmed figure," Corrections Minister Wade Noonan told reporters on Thursday.

Acting premier James Merlino said the centre was now secure.

The smoking ban would stay, he said.

Police are reviewing security camera footage to identify and charge riot leaders.

An internal Corrections Victoria inquiry will assess preparedness for the smoking ban and rioting.

Former deputy police commissioner Kieran Walshe will conduct an independent inquiry and hand his findings to the government in November.


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Source: AAP


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