(ELIZABETH CITY, N.C.) (AP) — Authorities say two North Carolina prison employees have been killed after inmates set a fire in an unsuccessful escape attempt.

State prison spokesman Keith Acree did not say how the employees were killed Thursday afternoon at Pasquotank Correctional Institution in Elizabeth City.

Acree says the inmates started a fire at the prison sewing plant where prisoners make safety vests and other items. He said in a statement that none of the inmates made it out of the prison.

Officials say 10 people were taken to two hospitals after the fire. Acree says several of them were prison workers.

The prison houses nearly 900 adult, male felons in both high-security and minimum-custody buildings.