Six sudden deaths reported at South Wales prison
Police have confirmed they received reports of six sudden deaths at a prison in South Wales.
South Wales Police said four of the deaths at HM Prison Parc in Bridgend are believed to be drug-related, while two are being treated as non-suspicious.
The deaths occurred since 27 February, the force said.
Sky News had reported that the prisons and probation ombudsman had issued an urgent warning, urging all prisoners in possession of spice to "dispose of it immediately".
Detective Steve Jones added: "At this stage we cannot confirm that the four deaths are connected to any specific drug however a fast-track process has been undertaken and identified the presence of Nitazene based substances in connection with all four deaths.
"Spice has been identified in two of the four deaths.
"Postmortems have been completed on two of the four men and at this stage cause of death is inconclusive and we are awaiting toxicology. The other two men are awaiting a postmortem."
Opened in 1997, HMP Parc is a category B men's private prison and young offenders institution run by security company G4S.
