Rioting broke out inside Maghaberry prison in Co Antrim last night as inmates set fire to cells and locked themselves into part of the complex. Nineteen remand inmates barricaded themselves into the recreation room of the Foyle wing.
A spokesman for the prison service said two cells were set on fire, but there were no reports of any injuries. Police and fire-fighters were sent into the jail.
Maghaberry is an integrated prison housing largely non-paramilitary prisoners as well as a number of paramilitaries who have broken links with their associates.
Several dissident republicans and loyalists are also in the complex. Its current population is 483 prisoners, including 13 women. The trouble is the latest in a series of disturbances. At the weekend, two prison officers were treated for smoke inhalation after a recreation room was set on fire.
However, a spokesman for the Northern Ireland Prison Service said the latest outbreak was under control and the prisoners had been returned to their cells.