Inmates Riot at Crowded British Prison; 50 Hurt : Uprising: Hundreds battle guards, set fires and climb atop buildings. Reports of 12 deaths are under investigation.

About 700 inmates rioted at an overcrowded 19th-Century prison Sunday, occupying rooftops, smashing windows and setting fires inside. At least 50 guards and inmates were injured, police said.

Television newscasts carried unconfirmed reports that witnesses had seen up to 12 bodies. A police spokesman said inmates brought out of Strangeways Prison also reported deaths but that police would not be able to confirm this until they reached the center of the complex.

The Home Office said no hostages were being held, and police said talks with prisoners were under way.

About 400 prisoners had reportedly surrendered to authorities by late Sunday night, and arrangements were being made to transfer them to other prisons.

Riot police surrounded the medium-security prison, a mile from the Manchester city center in central England. A police helicopter hovered overhead as flames leaped 20 feet into the air from the prison gymnasium, where a fire burned out of control.

Twenty-five firefighters under police protection battled the blaze as dense black smoke billowed above the building. Fires were also reported to have been set in three cells and a classroom as inmates rampaged inside. The fires were later reported under control.

The Home Office, responsible for prisons, said the perimeter of the prison was secure.

Fifty people, mostly prison guards, were taken to hospitals.

A Home Office statement said the uprising began in the prison chapel at 11 a.m., when 300 inmates attacked staff members.

The riots were apparently a protest of jail conditions.

The prison, built in 1868 for 970 inmates, now houses around 1,600. It is one of Europe’s most overcrowded jails and has been criticized as cramped and inadequate.