FIRE has gutted Muhanga Prison located in the southern district of Muhanga, officials from Rwanda Correctional Services (RCS) have said. The cause of the fire is still unknown. Eyewitnesses described what they saw as an ‘extremely severe fire’ at the prison, which is along the Kigali-Huye Highway, on the outskirts of Muhanga town. The photos taken moments after the fire outbreak show a huge black plume of smoke billowing over the prison while a crowd of stunned onlookers stood nearby observing helplessly. Anastase Nabahire, the Spokesperson for the Rwanda Correctional Services (RCS), told The New Times that when the fire started inmates were not in their cells. “Inmates had been out of their rooms to pave way for routine fumigation as part of efforts to protect them against harmful insects,” Nabahire said, adding that he did not have any information on whether there are any casualties. It is not yet clear which part of the prison is affected and the extent of the damage caused by the fire. Nabahire said efforts were ongoing to put out the inferno. Police fire-fighters were, by press time, said to be on way from Kigali to join the battle against the inferno. Formerly known as Gitarama Prison, the correctional facility was established in 1973. At the time, it had a capacity to accommodate 750 inmates. After the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, the prison was expanded to accommodate more prisoners, particularly genocide convicts. Today it has capacity to accommodate at least 6,000 inmates, according to RCS figures. Recent official figures indicate that about 5,900 prisoners are detained at the facility.
