Tunisia’s caretaker leaders have struggled to restore stability since protests forced President Zine Al-Abidine Ben Ali to leave the country in January.

As well as frequent prison escapes there have been violent protests, riots and, according to residents, a rise in crime.

Witnesses told Reuters ambulances rushed to the prison in Gassrine, about 300 km (185 miles) southwest of Tunis, to take dozens of injured people to the local hospital.

“The fire was caused by an attempt to escape by several prisoners, who set fire to their mattresses, resulting in the deaths of two people,” the justice ministry said in a statement.

It was not immediately clear if any of the prisoners had managed to escape.

Tunisia’s revolution inspired uprisings in Egypt and elsewhere in the Arab world.