At least six inmates of the Douala Central Prison have been injured after fire broke out at the Douala Central Prison in the New Bell neighbourhood, sources have said.

The fire broke out just after 3pm on Thursday afternoon, consuming parts of the prison as inmates attempted to put the fire off, sources on site said.

At least six inmates have had severe burns and have been transported to the hospital, rescue workers said

Fire fighters and rescue workers have been dispatched to the scene to try and put off the fire which has been growing in intensity for the past one hour. Security forces have equally been deployed around the detention facility to guard against any prison escape.

This is the second major fire incident at the detention facility in the past five years with last being in 2015 when then Minister of Justice Ahmadou Ali promised a new detention facility will be built in order to relocate th inmates.

According to human rights groups, the Douala Central prison is one of the most populated in Cameroon, hosting over five times the number of detainees it is supposed to to contain.

This is a developing story….