Two Tunisian prisoners trying to escape have suffocated¹ after setting their mattresses² on fire, officials say.

突尼斯官员称，两名企图越狱的囚犯被自己点燃的床垫窒息而死。

Another 24 inmates³ were rushed to hospital in the central town of Kasserine with breathing problems, the Tunisian News Agency (Tap) reports.

Analysts⁴ say Tunisia has been unstable⁵ since President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali was ousted⁶ in January.

Tap reports that relatives of inmates who gathered outside the prison after the fire stoned government troops.

'Drugs and weapons'

The justice ministry⁷ said the situation was now under control.

"Some prisoners who were trying to escape set fire to mattresses（床垫） , causing the death of two detainees, asphyxiated⁸（窒息） by the smoke," it said.

Several prisoners escaped from the same prison in April after setting fire to a cell.

Tunisia has been hit by a wave of riots（暴动） and demonstrations⁹ since Ben Ali was overthrown¹⁰ in a popular uprising（起义） .

Pro-democracy groups accuse the interim¹¹ government of failing to implement¹² swift political and economic reforms.

Ben Ali was convicted in absentia on Tuesday of possessing illegal drugs and weapons.

He fled to Saudi Arabia in January - the first leader be ousted in the pro-democracy protests that have spread across North Africa and the Middle East.