Idaho inmates wreck prison, hold officer

Idaho state prison inmates held a corrections officer hostage Thursday after seizing control of the prison's main yard and wrecking the institution. Police surrounded the prison and the Idaho National Guard was alerted for possible duty. A prison spokeswoman said that 200 to 250 prisoners participated in rioting and fire-setting which destroyed nearly every building in the prison compound, south of Boise.

The rioting began Wednesday after a routine inspection of a cellbock for contraband. The prison, a multimillion-dollar institution opened in late 1973, housed 400 prisoners in its main section.