Prisoners rioted at Qubbah jail in northern Lebanon's Tripoli, taking two officers hostage and setting fire on the jail, Voice of Lebanon radio reported Monday.
The prisoners pressured the Internal Security Forces (ISF) to meet their demands for amnesty, reducing sentences and an improvement in living conditions, said the radio.
According to the report, police threatened Monday to break into the jail, which houses 560 inmates, after negotiations failed to release the two ISF officers who were taken hostages Sunday evening when the riot started.
"Twenty jailed inmates broke doors and burned their mattresses before taking two unarmed ISF officers from the prison's pharmacy," ISF commander Ashraf Rifi was quoted as saying.
A bank robber, Omar Ghamrawi, is behind the riot along with other prisoners, the radio said. There were no reports of casualties.
Meanwhile, relatives of the prisoners clashed with the police as they tried to enter the prison.