July 5, 2009 Middlesex Jail evacuation 'under control' Play video

(NECN: Kristen Caira, Cambridge, Mass.) - A group of unruly inmates broke the sprinkler system at the Middlesex Jail in Cambridge, Massachusetts, according to the county sheriff.

Officers from the Middlesex Sheriff's Office were evacuating prisoners on Sunday evening.

Over the past few days, about 12 inmates came down with flu-like symptoms. One of those 12 may have swine flu, but the others do not.

When officers were sanitizing parts of the jail, about nine inmates became unruly and caused an uprising. They broke pipes in the sprinkler system, flooding the building.

The fire department and NSTAR said that they were forced to shut down power to the building, forcing the evacuation of over 180 inmates.

"We will be moving out to other institutions approximately 187 inmates," Sheriff James DiPaola said.

Sheriff DiPaola said that arrangements were made to move some inmates to the Middlesex House of Correction at Billerica, Essex Sheriff's Office, Plymouth, Dedham House of Correction, South Bay and Nashua Street, while others would remain under their control.

"The infected inmates will, and still are, in isolation inside the institution," Sheriff DiPaola said.

Dozens of officers were involved in the evacuation process, which Sheriff DiPaola stressed was under control.

NECN's Kristen Caira reports.