U.S. prison on lockdown after guards taken hostage by inmates

A prison housing some 2,500 in Delaware, eastern United States, has been on lockdown after some guards were taken hostage on Wednesday.

A large amount of local emergency responders including police from neighboring Pennsylvania, could be seen rushing to the Level 5 James T. Vaughn Correctional Center (JVTCC) in Smyrna around midday.

Geoffrey Klopp, president of the Correctional Officers Association of Delaware, said he was told by the Department of Correction commissioner that prison guards were taken hostage at the prison.

William Carson, a member of the House Corrections Committee, also said he had been told it was an "apparent hostage situation."

"The inmates have taken over a building," he said.

A corrections department spokeswoman said it is an isolated incident with no threat to the public.

The incident then caused all Level 5 Delaware prisons, the state's maximum security facilities, to be placed on lockdown, according to local media reports.

The prison, which dates back to 1971, houses minimum, medium and maximum security prisoners as well as the state's death row inmates, says the State Bureau of Prisons.

The hostage situation is ongoing with few details so far revealed. Endit