Waikeria Prison: First images show devastated prison, inmates' rooftop camp
Wednesday, 30 December 2020
Prisoners lounge about in the sunshine on the roof of Waikeria Prison, collapsible chairs set up meters from the blackened and caved-in roof of the jail block they destroyed in a day of rioting.
The first images of the prison, taken from the air by Stuff on Wednesday afternoon show the destruction left by the inmates at one of the country’s largest jails. Both prisoners on the roof and helmeted guards carrying shields on the ground below are visible.
The riot entered its second day on Wednesday afternoon with the prison remaining in lockdown as a tense stand-off with 17 prisoners, who remain on a roof, continues.
Also clear is that row upon row of roofs have collapsed, with the inside of the majority of the buildings in the facility gutted and charred.
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An entire wing, at least 100 metres long, appears destroyed with the roof now a tangled web of debris.
The roof of another building, perhaps a recreational hall or gym, is mostly burnt to cinders and now sits inside the building.
Fire and Emergency NZ reported the fire was out but the buildings were smouldering. The facility did have a sprinkler system.
Eight fire trucks are in close proximity to the building, with two appearing to be tankers.
Corrections bosses are in the dark over why rioting inmates caused such havoc.
In a media conference at 2 pm outside the facility, south of Te Awamutu in Waikato, Corrections chief executive Jeremy Lightfoot said the cause of the unrest was unknown with nothing standing out among official complaints channels from prisoners.
Shortly before the fires were lit, Corrections was contacted by media outlet Newshub saying it had been alerted to a possible riot. Checks with staff indicated no issues.
“At this stage it is not clear as to exactly why they’re doing this,” Lightfoot said.
“So we’ve had no pre-warning of this, and so I’m not at the moment able to comment on what might be the reason behind it.”
Lightfoot said the fires and unrest is the biggest incident in a Corrections facility since the riot at Spring Hill prison in 2013.
Alan Whitley, president of CANZ, also speaking at the same media conference, said there was no denying the aged ‘top jail’, where the riot broke out, was not a good facility to live or work.
He described it as “horrible”, but was unsure if conditions had sparked the riot.
“No one is denying that it’s not a good facility to hold people in or work in but it’s what we’ve had to put up with until we get the new facility,” Whitley said.
Lightfoot would only describe the damage as “significant” but most of the ‘top jail’ facility appears damaged with whole wings ruined by the flames.
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Lightfoot said Corrections had not provided additional food and water to the non-complying inmates as that could become part of the negotiating process. Prisoners were able to move about the block so could be obtaining food and water themselves.
Lightfoot said other prisoners had been moved off site, a task which was easier due to the declining prison population.
Inmates could be communicating to family members and others through prison landlines, given they were unsupervised. There were unconfirmed reports of them calling family members to “say goodbye”.
The unrest kicked-off around 2pm on Tuesday when fires were lit in the ‘top jail’ facility in an exercise yard.
Prisoners had been lighting mattresses on fire, Department of Corrections has said.
The top jail facility is one of the oldest parts of the prison, being built in 1911, and was due to be replaced by a new facility scheduled to open in 2022.
A Department of Corrections spokesperson told Stuff on Wednesday morning that while the condition of the building still needed to be assessed, it was unlikely prisoners could be held there again.
The spokesman said that 17 non-compliant prisoners remained on the roof after four prisoners surrendered to staff overnight.
He said Fire and Emergency NZ could not get inside the building to assess the scale of the fire or the damage because the prison was 'not secure”.
“Corrections can’t get FENZ up to the upper prison until the non-compliant prisoners surrender.”
He understood Fire and Emergency was monitoring the fire from the outside. At the peak of the fire, about 70 firefighters were called to assist.
Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis is not commenting until the situation is resolved, a spokesperson said.
There had been no loss of life or injury to staff or prisoners, however damage to the facility in the area of the riot was “significant”, Corrections said.
They also said 49 prisoners, not involved in the riot, were evacuated from the ‘top jail’ facility to another unit in the prison on Tuesday afternoon.
A further 163 men were temporarily moved to other locations within the prison.
“Throughout these movements the men were calm and compliant and understood that their safety and wellbeing was our top priority.”
The remainder of the prison, which is spread over a large rural area, was also calm, Corrections said.
Fire and Emergency NZ, Police and St John remain at the prison and are working with Corrections staff.
The prison population of Waikeria sits at around 750 inmates, making up about 7.2 per cent of the country’s prison population. About 250 beds are located in Waikeria’s top jail facility.