6 buildings destroyed in Kentucky prison riot

BURGIN, Ky. (AP) — Rioting inmates set fire to trash cans and other items inside a central Kentucky prison, and damage to some buildings was so extensive that officials were busing many of the facility’s 1,200 prisoners elsewhere, police said Saturday.

By early Saturday, firefighters had extinguished the fires at the medium-security Northpoint Training Center in a rural area 30 miles south of Lexington, state police Lt. David Jude said.

Eight inmates were treated for minor injuries, and eight staff were also injured in the melee, although no employees were admitted to the hospital, said Cheryl Million, a spokeswoman for the Kentucky Department of Corrections.

Officers in riot gear rushed the prisoners with tear gas about 9 p.m. Friday, and all the inmates were subdued in less than two hours, authorities said.

Six buildings had burned, including a kitchen, medical center, canteen and visitation area. Million also said all but one of the dormitories, a 196-bed unit, were damaged and uninhabitable.

A bus carrying some 42 inmates deemed higher-security risks left the property shortly after 6 a.m., heading to an undisclosed facility. It wasn’t clear how many other inmates would have to be moved.

Gov. Steve Beshear praised corrections officials and state police for handling the situation without any serious injuries.

Some of the inmates would be able to stay at Northpoint, Million said.

Jude said the prisoners were being kept in an outdoor courtyard surrounded by prison guards. Police formed a perimeter around the outside of the facility to make sure no one escaped.

Portable toilets were brought in, and prison officials were using temporary food stations to feed the prisoners because the fire in the kitchen destroyed much of the prison’s food supply.

Jude didn’t immediately say what caused of the rioting, which began around 6:30 p.m. Friday.