Taiwan prison inmates take officers hostage

Six inmates at Kaohsiung Prison in southern Taiwan armed with guns took the prison warden and one other officer hostage Wednesday afternoon.

The prisoners fired several shots that were heard outside the prison, Xinhua news agency reported. Heavily armed SWAT police were dispatched to the scene. There have been no reports of injuries.

The inmates pretended to seek medical attention at about 4 p.m. and took an undisclosed number of prison officials hostage to the prison armoury where they took four rifles and six handguns as well as over 200 bullets, according to deputy justice chief Chen Ming-tang.

Deputy warden Lai Chen-jung and head guard Wang Shih-tsang then offered to swap places with the hostages, Chen said.

Warden Chen Shih-chih then offered himself as a hostage in exchange for his deputy's release, leaving the gunmen with Wang and Warden Chen, officials said.

The inmates, reportedly serving prison terms for various crimes including drug offences, robbery and murder, have demanded a getaway car, Chen said.

As the faceoff continues, police are seeking to resolve the crisis through negotiations.