Chaos erupted at Zomba maximum prison on Thursday as prison warders invaded prison cells searching for illegal items.

According to an eyewitness who rushed to the scene, the exercise was marred by violence as some prisoners were not happy with the exercise.

Spokesperson for Malawi Prison Services, Smart Maliro confirmed of the development on Thursday with one of the local radio.

According to Maliro, the exercise is a routine process and trashed the rumours hovering in the social medial that the exercise was marred by violence.

Maliro said the warders managed to confiscate all the items that fall within the illicit items category.