Death toll in Brazil prison riot climbs to 57
Rio De Janeiro, July 30 (Xinhua/UNI) The death toll from a prison riot in Brazil's northern Para state Monday climbed to 57, authorities said.
The riot led to the deaths of 16 inmates, who were decapitated, and 41 who died of inhaling toxic smoke from burning mattresses, according to the state's Superintendency of the Penitentiary System (Susipe).
The riot, sparked by clashes between two rival gangs, broke out at the Altamira Regional Recovery Center at breakfast time, after members of one gang attacked two prison guards to access the wing where the rival gang members were housed.
"It was a swift attack in a way, aimed at wiping out the rival members," Para prison official Jarbas Vasconcelos said.
"They went in, started a fire, killed and ended the attack. It was a directed, localized attack," Vasconcelos added.
According to Susipe, the prison was built to hold 163 inmates, but was housing 343, more than twice its capacity.
The Brazilian government announced an immediate transfer of 46 inmates who took part in the riot.
In recent years, riots between rival gangs have become commonplace in the Brazilian prison system.
In May, 55 inmates were killed in a wave of gang-related violence at four prisons in the neighboring state of Amazonas, also Brazil's poorer northern region.
Support Our Journalism
We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism
IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.
