Georgetown, Guyana (AFP) - Fire erupted on Sunday (July 9) at a prison in the South American nation of Guyana, according to officials who said several inmates had managed to obtain firearms at the facility in an ongoing standoff.

Police and fire officials said they were unable to enter the compound at the prison controlled by the armed inmates in Georgetown, Guyana's capital city.

Heavily armed soldiers, meanwhile, took up strategic positions around the facility in this former British colony.

Some local news outlets said at least two prison guards have been shot and wounded, amid reports of gunshots being fired within the facility.