Mississippi prison riot leaves 1 guard dead, 8 injured

A prison guard was killed in a riot Sunday that left five other correctional officers and three inmates injured at a privately run prison in Mississippi.

The disturbance began at about 2:40 p.m. EDT and involved dozens of inmates. It was brought under control late Sunday, The Associated Press reported.

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"At one time, I know that at least 24 or 25 hostages were being held," Adams County Sheriff Chuck Mayfield told CNN on Monday. "However, now all employees are out safely."

Adams County Coroner James Lee told Reuters the 23-year-old guard died of blunt trauma to the head. He was not immediately identified.

It was not immediately clear what sparked the riot, which was under investigation by the FBI and Tennessee-based Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), which owns the facility, according to CNN.

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Johar Lashin told CNN that he heard a lot of noise and commotion when he talked with his brother Jawad, an inmate serving time for aiding and abetting illegal immigrants, on Sunday night.

His brother told Lashin he was not participating in the riot, despite pressure from other inmates to do so.

Mayfield told the Natchez Democrat that inmates used anything they could find as weapons, and stressed that reports of escaped inmates were false.

One man claiming to be an inmate at the prison contacted Jackson, Miss., TV station WAPT and said the inmates were fed up with the way they had been treated.

"They always beat us and hit us. We just pay them back. We're trying to get better food, medical (care), programs, clothes, and we're trying to get some respect from the officers and lieutenants," the inmate said.

The Natchez facility is a 2,567-bed prison that houses adult men who are in the United States illegally and charged with crimes, according to CNN.