Coronavirus: Prisoners across Italy riot over new restrictions
Six inmates have died after riots
broke out at 27 prisons in Italy over new restrictions aimed at
controlling the spread of coronavirus, local media say.
In Milan,
prisoners set fire to part of the San Vittore prison before protesting
on the roof after they were told that visits had been suspended.Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said the coronavirus outbreak was Italy's "darkest hour".
With 366 deaths now confirmed, Italy is the worst-hit country after China.
Italy's government has pledged to further increase spending in a "massive shock therapy" to offset the economic impact of the outbreak.
The country is struggling to adapt to the most restrictive measures since World War Two, introduced on Sunday.
Up to 16 million people in northern Italy now need permission to travel under quarantine rules.
What happened at the prisons?
The trouble began in the northern city of Modena, where three people were reported to have died at the Sant'Anna prison, while a further three died after being transferred from there.It is thought that at least two of the dead lost their lives to drug overdoses after they raided a prison hospital for the heroin substitute methadone
At San Vittore prison in Milan, detainees set fire to a cell block on one of the facility's six wings, then climbed onto the roof through windows and started waving banners, officials said.
At a prison in the southern city of Foggia, about 20 inmates managed to break out of the building during protests. Many were quickly recaptured, Italy's Ansa news agency reported.
There were also riots at several other prisons in northern Italy and at facilities in Naples and the capital, Rome
Cases of the virus have been confirmed in all 20 Italian regions, with the total number of infections now at 6,387.
In an interview with La Repubblica newspaper on Monday, Mr Conte said: "These days, I have been thinking about the old speeches of [Winston] Churchill - it is our darkest hour but we will make it".
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