COLOMBO (AFP)

Clashes in a Sri Lankan prison killed 26 people, including seven guards, and wounded more than 100 in the country's deadliest prison incident in years, officials said Monday.

Victims with cuts and gunshot injuries were rushed to Negombo Hospital, north of the capital Colombo following fighting overnight between inmates, police said.

Hospital director Pushpa Gamlath said there were 23 bodies at the state-run facility, as well as more than 100 wounded inmates and guards from Negombo Prison.

“There are some victims with gunshot injuries, some with cuts and severe bruises,” Gamlath told AFP by telephone. "We transferred 18 of the more seriously wounded to the Colombo National Hospital."

Justice Minister Harshana Nanayakkara later said three more people had died, raising the toll to 26. He expressed “profound shock and grief".

He said fighting began on Sunday evening at Negombo Prison, which houses several thousand inmates.

The government announced it was setting up a three-member team headed by a retired Supreme Court justice to investigate the incident.

Large crowds of relatives of inmates gathered outside Negombo Prison on Monday as the air force deployed drones and a helicopter to monitor the area.