CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – A county jail near Boston has been evacuated after officials say a group of inmates broke the sprinkler system and flooded the building.
Middlesex County Sheriff James DiPaola says several inmates at the Middlesex Jail in Cambridge became unruly Sunday morning after 15 of them were sent to area hospitals with flu-like symptoms.
DiPaola says some inmates broke the fire suppression system, setting off the sprinklers.
The Cambridge Fire Department asked the sheriff's office to turn off the building's power, and officials began evacuating the inmates by bus to other facilities.
It was not immediately clear where they were headed, or how long the jail would be closed.
The jail originally was built to house 160 prisoners, but has housed up to 400.
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