The Corrections Department says its officers have foiled an attempted escape from Auckland Central Remand Prison.
It says prisoners disabled a security camera in the yard and attempted to prise open part of the mesh fence.
Prison manager Mack Herewini says his staff are fully trained to deal with such situations and their training was put to good use.
Mr Herewini says an investigation has been launched into which of the nine prisoners in the yard were involved in the attempted escape at about 4pm on Wednesday.
Mr Herewini says even if the prisoners had succeeded in getting through the fence they would have still been within the outer perimeter wall.
He says initial investigations suggest the attempted escape was not planned, but a spontaneous effort.
The prisoners involved will face internal charges and may also face police charges.
