Guards at a New Zealand jail struggled to control 26 prisoners who became drunk after consuming a potent home brew smuggled into the institution, news reports said on Tuesday.
Two warders were injured on Monday as they tried to move the drunken prisoners into a top security unit at the Hawkes Bay jail, in Napier, said Peter Grant of the Department of Corrections.
So-called turbo yeast, a mix of extremely alcohol-tolerant yeast and nutrients sold to home brewers which easily ferments sugar, corn, molasses, barley, wheat and potato peelings into 17% alcohol, was blamed for the booze-up, the Hawkes Bay Today newspaper reported.
Grant said all inmates at the jail were locked in their cells for up to five hours to sober up and those involved would be disciplined. – Sapa-DPA