epa08280707 Inmates gather on the roof of the prison during a prison riot in Foggia, Apulia region, southern Italy, 09 March 2020. Several inmates in Foggia have reportedly managed to evade after tearing up a gate at the prison's block house and once they reached the road outside where blocked by the police, media reported. Violent protests broke out on the day in 27 Italian prisons against the novel coronavirus restrictions affecting the country with many inmates asking for an amnesty due to the virus emergency. Serious riots are taking place at San Vittore in Milan and Rebibbia in Rome where, as well as burning mattresses, some inmates attacked the infirmaries, media reported. EPA-EFE/FRANCO CAUTILLO Italy's government has imposed a virtual lockdown across much of its wealthy northern regions at the epicentre of the contagion, in an effort to contain a virus which as of Sunday had killed 366 people.
In a TV interview the head of Italy's prison administration Francesco Basentini said three inmates had died inside a jail in the northern town of Modena, and three others had died after being transferred away from the prison.
"There have been a series of rebellions across the country," Basentini said. Video shown on Italian television showed police and fire trucks outside the prison as black smoke swirled into the sky.
The justice ministry said fires had been set at a number of prisons causing severe damage.
Prison guards union Sappe said two guards had been taken hostage in the northern city of Pavia and were released after a police raid.
In an emergency decree on Sunday, the government imposed limits on direct contact between inmates and their families. Prisoners will be allowed to contact visitors by phone or other remote methods under the measures, in place until March 22.
Modena and Pavia are within the red zone that the government has established to limit the coronavirus contagion.
Justice ministry sources said two of the deaths in Modena were caused by an overdose from drugs found in the jail infirmaries, while a third prisoner was found blue in the face and the cause of the death was still unclear.
The prison unrest could add to political pressure on the government coalition of the centre-left and the anti-establishment 5-Star movement. Far-right League leader Matteo Salvini said: "The gates of the prisons shouldn't be thrown open with the excuse of the revolts." (Reporting by Angelo Amante and Stephen Jewkes Editing by Peter Graff)