A fire broke out on the evening of Thursday, August 6, in the western section of Deir Ezzor prison in eastern Syria, causing several inmates to suffer smoke inhalation due to the thick smoke. No deaths or serious injuries were reported, according to Enab Baladi’s correspondent in Deir Ezzor.
The correspondent said ambulance teams and the Internal Security Forces mobilized immediately after receiving the report and headed to the site. They worked to extinguish the flames and prevent them from spreading to other sections of the prison, while evacuating inmates from the affected area and securing the building’s perimeter to facilitate the work of firefighting and ambulance crews.
Medical teams provided first aid to several inmates suffering from smoke inhalation, the correspondent added. Preliminary information indicated that their conditions were stable, with no serious injuries or deaths recorded as a result of the fire.
As a precautionary measure, the Internal Security Forces began an organized transfer of all prisoners held in the western section to the central prison in Deir Ezzor. The move was intended to ensure their safety and allow firefighters and the relevant authorities to complete their work inside the damaged building and conduct a technical assessment of the damage caused by the fire, according to the correspondent.
Preliminary information from the scene suggested that an electrical short circuit may have caused the fire. However, no official authority had confirmed the cause at the time of publication, pending the completion of technical investigations to determine the circumstances of the incident, the cause of the blaze, and the extent of the damage to the section.
No final official figures on material damage or the number of people injured had been issued by the time this report was prepared. The relevant authorities had also not announced the results of the investigation or when the damaged section would return to service.
Earlier Prisoner Escape
The fire came about a month after a security incident in the western section of the prison in Deir Ezzor city. On July 4, Enab Baladi’s correspondent reported that several prisoners had escaped from the section during the early morning hours, prompting the Internal Security Forces in the province to mobilize.
According to the correspondent, the Internal Security Forces captured two of the escaped prisoners shortly after the breakout. They also launched a broad search operation in neighborhoods and areas surrounding the prison, supported by security patrols and temporary checkpoints, to pursue the remaining escapees and prevent them from leaving the city.
The pursuit continued for several hours as security deployment was reinforced around the prison and at the entrances to Deir Ezzor city. The relevant authorities did not subsequently release a final count of all the prisoners who escaped or disclose the outcome of the search operations, leaving details of the incident incomplete.
The western section has witnessed more than one security incident in recent weeks. The relevant authorities are continuing measures to strengthen security inside detention facilities while investigating the circumstances and causes of the latest fire.