Iranian officials claimed on Sunday that at least eight prisoners had died and more than sixty had been injured after a fire broke out at Evin Prison, the notorious prison in northern Tehran mainly used to hold political dissidents.

Iran’s state-run IRNA news channel claimed that the eight prisoners had died after a group of inmates attempted to start a riot in one wing of the prison. As part of the uprising, prisoners lit a fire in the prison’s sewing workshop, leading to four deaths by smoke inhalation and four from unspecified injuries received during the violence, IRNA asserted. The IRNA report claimed that “criminal elements” had started the fire, downplaying the connection between it and the nationwide protest movement taking place outside. While hundreds of anti-government demonstrators arrested during the protests are known to have been incarcerated in Evin, an Iranian government prosecutor claimed that the riot had started in the wing of the prison reserved for petty criminals rather than political dissidents. The IRNA report did not provide any information on the identities of the deceased prisoners.

The events inside the prison were not immediately apparent to those on the outside, and video footage of the burning prison—interspersed with gunfire and explosions from within—led to speculation on the internet that the Iranian government had intentionally started the blaze and staged the uprising in order to cover up the murder of several prisoners. Some observers also noted that a high-profile prisoner, Mehdi Hashemi Rafsanjani—son of former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani—had been given “early temporary release” before the riot began, a move that some observers suggested was intended to keep him safe from the violence.

After the fire began, both protesters and security forces flocked to the prison, leading to further clashes on the outside and prompting the Iranian government to close the roads leading to Evin. Some families unsuccessfully attempted to contact their imprisoned relatives after the fire began; however, several others have since been in contact, according to the BBC.

State Department spokesman Ned Price said on Saturday that U.S. officials were following reports from the prison “with urgency.”

Trevor Filseth is a current and foreign affairs writer for the National Interest.

Image: Reuters.