‘Abject neglect’: critics report chaotic and deadly conditions on Rikers Island

There have been five suicides and eight additional deaths this year in New York City's notorious jail complex

New York's Rikers Island, one of the largest and most notorious jails in the world, is reaching a breaking point after more than a dozen incarcerated people died this year alone, in what elected officials and advocates are calling a humanitarian crisis.

The jail, located on an island in between the Bronx and Queens, has descended into dangerous chaos. Those with access to visit reported seeing inmates walking around with infected self-harm wounds, an inmate hijacking a bus full of prisoners and crashing it into a wall, and a lack of access to basic hygiene products.