Seven inmates were killed and 17 others injured in a riot at a maximum security prison in South Carolina, the southern US state’s Department of Corrections said Monday.

The department said the riot erupted Sunday evening at the Lee Correctional Institution in Bishopville, South Carolina and was brought under control at 2:55 am on Monday.

“The incident at Lee CI resulted in 17 inmates requiring outside medical attention and 7 inmates were killed,” the department said on its Twitter account.

All prison guards and law enforcement authorities who responded were “safe and accounted for.”

The department had initially described the riot as an “ongoing incident,” revealing the scope of the problem hours after its start at 7:15 pm Sunday.

“The incident involved multiple inmates on inmate altercations in three housing units,” the department said. (AFP)