YAOUNDE, August 20, 2008 (AFP) - Nine prisoners died Wednesday in a fire in Cameroon's notorious New Bell prison in the west African country's economic capital Douala, the jail's chief said.

The country's most populous jail is crammed with more than four times as many prisoners than its original capacity.

Conditions are dire, even by African standards. In June, 16 prisoners were killed while trying to escape from its nightmarish confines.

According to New Bell's chief Tsala Amougou, there are 3,421 inmates packed into a space originally meant for a maximum of 800 prisoners. Running water, proper toilets and even beds and mattresses are in short supply and corruption is rampant.