Three killed, 16 injured in prison blaze in Lebanon

CAIRO (Reuters) - Three inmates were killed and 16 others injured in a fire on Friday at a prison in Lebanon's Zahle city, according to a security source and state-run news agency NNA.

Prisoners set fire to furniture and tried to hold two officers hostages in a riot that started after a routine inspection uncovered a hole dug by inmates attempting to escape, the senior security source told Reuters.

"The fire was contained and the riot was controlled," he added.

(Reporting by Muhammad Al Gebaly, Ahmed Tolba, and Laila Bassam, writing by Muhammad Al Gebaly, Editing by Alex Richardson)