WASHINGTON:  Seven inmates were killed and 17 others injured in a riot at a maximum security prison in South Carolina, one of the deadliest in decades in the United States, authorities said yesterday, reports AFP.

Fights among inmates erupted Sunday evening at the Lee Correctional Institution in Bishopville, South Carolina and was brought under control at 2:55 am on Monday.

"The incident at Lee CI resulted in 17 inmates requiring outside medical attention and seven inmates were killed," the department said on its Twitter account.

All prison guards and law enforcement authorities who responded were "safe and accounted for," it said.