Australian prisoners at a detention center outside the City of Melbourne started a riot on Monday to oppose the implementation of a smoking ban on prisoners.

NBC News reported that prisoners at the Metropolitan Remand Center started the riot at around 12:20 PM Australian Time and some have managed to penetrate the inner fences. A spokesperson for Victoria Corrections told reporters that around 200 or more prison staff have successfully been taken to safety.

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The spokesperson assured the public that all prison personnel have been accounted for. The prison center or at least parts of it, including the outer fences, have been secured by police units in full battle gear, according to the Guardian.

A news helicopter flying over prison grounds was able to take a video of the rampaging prisoners. Many of them have concealed their faces while hitting doors and breaking windows with sticks.

ABC reported that police entered the prison in a bid to stop the raucous. Authorities sent a drone to check the progress of the riot as well as  a helicopter and an armored car as back up.

Jan Shuard, the prison's commissioner, said that "a very large group" of inmates were responsible for the unrest. Police estimated that at least 300 prisoners participated in the riot.

The commissioner conceded that the implementation of a smoking ban on all prisons in the state of Victoria may have triggered the violence. But with little information to go on, she said such report is mere speculation at the moment. Prison officials are set to impose the smoking ban this Wednesday.

Although the riot is still in progress, the commissioner maintained that majority of the inmates are back in custody.

It is estimated that around 84 percent of the inmates in Victoria prison have a smoking habit.

Shuard said it took a year and about six months of preparation before they could fully implement the smoking ban on inmates. She said that the prisoners involved in the riot are still new to the prison system. She also warned that prisoners who have committed criminal acts during the riot will face additional charges.

TagsAustralia, Victoria state prison, melbourne prison, prison riot, Australia Prison Riot