At least one inmate was killed, and another six were taken to hospital after a riot at a prison outside Sri Lanka’s capital on Saturday (August 1, 2026), police said.

The violence at the Mahara Prison outside Colombo came about a month after clashes at another overcrowded jail killed 10 guards and 21 inmates in Sri Lanka’s worst prison riot in years.

Additional police units were sent to guard the high-security Mahara Prison after rioting broke out on Saturday (August 1, 2026) morning, police said.

“We sent STF (Special Task Force) commandos to guard the perimeter, but we are not deployed inside,” a police official said.

The official said seven wounded prisoners were removed from the jail but one had died.

An AFP photographer outside the prison saw two truckloads of soldiers also being deployed along with the police commandos.

Rioting at the same prison during the Covid-19 pandemic in December 2020 killed 11 inmates and wounded 117, leading the government to release hundreds of inmates from overcrowded jails.

Authorities announced plans shortly after the Negombo riot in early July to convert disused state buildings into prisons.

That violence intensified scrutiny of Sri Lanka’s chronically overcrowded jails, with official figures showing prisons were operating at roughly four times their intended capacity.

The additional prisons have yet to be commissioned.

A fiery explosion ripped through a church in upstate New York on Tuesday (February 17, 2026), injuring five people, including a firefighter who was badly burned while responded to reports of a gas odour in the building, officials said.

New York State Police were investigating the cause of the blast, which occurred around 10:30 a.m. at the Abundant Life Fellowship Church in a rural area about 50 miles (80 kilometre) northeast of Syracuse.

Five people were taken to a local hospital for treatment. Two were listed in critical condition, including a firefighter who responded to the scene. The remaining three people were being treated for injuries that were not believed to be life-threatening, police said.

Police said there was no initial indication of criminal activity related to the explosion, which sent thick plumes of black smoke into the air and severely damaged the church.

The church was reportedly heated by propane cylinders, according to state troopers.

Powerful explosions tore through an industrial park near Argentina’s capital on Friday (November 14, 2025), sparking a huge blaze and injuring more than 20 people.

Thick billows of black smoke rose hundreds of meters into the night sky, illuminated orange from the massive blaze, as observed by AFP reporters near the site, which is close to the country’s busiest international airport just outside Buenos Aires.

“The explosions and fire breaking out in the different factories are huge,” said Gaston Granados, mayor of Ezeiza, the area where the site is located.

“We are trying to control (the fire) and extinguish it, but have not been able to so far,” he said on C5N television, adding that the windows of his own nearby house had been shattered and that they were evacuating families from the area.

Hospital director Carlos Santoro said his facility had received 22 injured patients.

A patient with a heart attack and a pregnant woman suffering from respiratory issues were among those admitted, he added.

Firefighters were still battling to put out the fire early on Saturday (November 15, 2025), local media reported, after authorities earlier warned it would be challenging to bring the blaze under control.

“It is a complex fire. It will be a long fire,” said Fabian Garcia, the civil defense director for Buenos Aires province.

Several companies manufacturing tires, chemical products and other goods were located in the industrial area. Local media reported five different factories were hit by the explosions and blaze, and AFP reporters saw that at least one factory building had been reduced to ashes.