Nyala — Security guards shot dead a prisoner and wounded another three in a Nyala jail, South Darfur's capital, who were taking part in sit-in protest against bad conditions at the facility on Wednesday.

Witnesses told Radio Dabanga guards fired gunshots and tear gas to disperse the rally after an inmate seized the weapon of one of them, who on his turn was trying to break off the three-day protest. Several guards were also injured.

Sources said the detainees were protesting against their mal-nutrition, lack of medical services and ill-treatment by the prison's administration.

Civilians residing in neighborhoods near the prison "are living in a state of panic and horror" and others fled their homes because of the fierce gun fires in the facility, sources said. The most affected districts are: Kerary, El-Wuhda and El-Wadi.

South Darfur's governor Abdul Karim Musa declared that three inmates sentenced to death penalty had tried escaping the Nyala prison, but the police managed to recapture them.

Meanwhile, he added, inmates still inside the prison broke water pipes, grabbed knives from the kitchen and injured seven security guards, two of them critically.

On his turn, South Darfur's police director General Taha Jalaluddin said a group of detainees had tried escaping the prison; however, the police managed to break it off.

After that, he continued, inmates started a riot inside the prison and injured two guards with stones.