Inmate dies at B.C. minimum-security prison

The Mission Correctional Institution in Mission, B.C. is pictured Tuesday, April 14, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

A 33-year-old man has died while in custody at a federal minimum-security prison in British Columbia.

The Correctional service of Canada says Tyler Damien Van Basten died at Mission Institution, in the Fraser Valley, on Friday.

Van Basten, who was born in 1991, had been serving a four-year sentence for drug possession for the purpose of trafficking, according to court records.

Van Basten was charged with the crime in Chilliwack, alongside two others, and was sentenced to 1,448 days in prison plus a 10-year firearms ban on Jan 24.

In a statement Monday, the correctional service said the inmate's next of kin have been notified of his death.

"As in all cases involving the death of an inmate, the Correctional Service of Canada will review the circumstances," the agency said, adding that police and the coroner have been notified.

Mission Institution houses minimum-security and medium-security inmates in separate facilities.

The correctional service says the minimum-security facility is based on a residential model consisting of small, group houses and one 50-bed unit