BASSETERRE, March 25: A prison riot near Warner Park passed unnoticed by the bumper crowd that watched Australia beat South Africa in a Cricket World Cup match on Saturday.

International Cricket Council (ICC) officials were also unaware of the revolt, which was quelled by the St Kitts and Nevis security forces with the help of a task force drawn from across the Caribbean.

The national security ministry issued a statement on Saturday saying an uprising had erupted in the prison, which is located 400 metres from the stadium, on Friday night after prisoners fought off warders who wanted to search a cell.

“The prisoners were eventually subdued and the search of the cell was conducted resulting in a small quantity of marijuana being seized,” the statement said.

“About 7:30am (1230 GMT) on Saturday ... prisoners escaped into the yard by using furniture in their cell to break down the door.

“The assistance of the security forces was requested by the prison authorities. Members of the police force and the St Kitts and Nevis Defence Force, assisted by personnel of the CARICOM joint Task Force, who initially met with some resistance, quickly brought the situation under control.

“In the process, several prisoners and one prison officer were injured and received medical attention.”

A crowd estimated at 8,000 streamed into Warner Park a short while later to watch the match, which started at 9:30am (1430 GMT).

The incident did not disrupt the match, and ICC communications officer Sami-ul-Hasan said he had no knowledge of the situation.

“A prison uprising? I know nothing about that,” he said. “If it was going to affect the match I would have known about it.”

The multi-national CARICOM Task Force was specifically formed to deal with security issues during the World Cup.—Reuters