10 killed in Brazil prison fight

International Desk: Fighting between rival gangs in a prison in northern Brazil has left at least 10 inmates dead, three of them beheaded, in the latest in a series of massacres in the South American country's penitentiaries.

The Saturday afternoon riot broke out at the Alcacuz Penitentiary in Rio Grande do Norte state after criminal factions clashed and some cellblocks were invaded by rivals, News website Folha de Sao Paulo said.

Zemilton Silva, coordinator of the prison system, said "we could see the heads ripped off" three inmates.

Police have surrounded the prison and blocked the exits, but are waiting until dawn to enter because the inmates are out of their cells and armed.

The last rebellion in Alcacuz prison was in November 2015, when a tunnel was discovered in one pavilion. The facility should house 620 inmates but has 1083.

The recent string of Brazilian prison violence began on January 1 and 2, when 56 inmates were killed in the northern state of Amazonas while on January 6 in the neighboring state of Roraima, 33 prisoners were killed, many with their hearts and intestines ripped out.

Source: Agencies

 

risingbd/Dhaka/Jan 15, 2017/A K Azad