Prison riots in Brazil leave at least 60 dead - some were beheaded

Riots in Brazil prisons is not new and, in the latest such atrocity, at least 60 inmates have been killed in the course of a prison riot in the northern state of Amazonas - several of them were beheaded or dismembered.
In addition to the deaths, some of the inmates escaped in the confusion and how many escaped has not been disclosed by the authorities - in addition, some of the prison guards were held hostage.
This has been described as the biggest prison massacre in the history of the state - it began Sunday afternoon and lasted until Monday morning.
This has been reported in nzherald.co.nz dated 3 January 2017.

It seems two of the biggest crime gangs of Brazil had begun fighting last year over control of several prisons and, in the opinion of the authorities in Amazonas, this is the reason behind the first riot of 2017. The inmates had made some demands to end the riot - this is believed to be a hint that the killing spree was organised by members of a local gang against those of another that is based in Sao Paulo.
Incidentally, in another prison in Amazonas, 87 inmates escaped in the early hours of Monday.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

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Group clashes in prisons in Brazil kill at least 18 inmates

At least 18 inmates died in group clashes in two separate penitentiaries in Brazil's Amazon region. In addition, more than three dozen escaped after a third prison riot caused a large fire in a complex outside Sao Paulo. The authorities were examining a possibility of there being some connection between the first two uprisings in the jungle states of Rondonia and Roraima.
Ten prisoners died in the mutiny at the Monte Cristo prison in the city of Boa Vista in Roraima and eight others were killed in a similar riot about 800 miles away in the penitentiary in Rondonia.
This has been reported in dailymail.co.uk dated 18 October 2016.

The trouble began during visiting hours when some inmates armed with knives and wooden sticks broke padlocks and attacked those in another wing, who are believed to have been members of a rival gang. The rioters also took 100 women visitors hostage.
The riots erupted on a day the prisoners had about 50 people who were visiting the penitentiary in Roraima. This is situated on the border with Venezuela and Guyana. The rioters had taken hostages but they were later released unharmed.
Incidentally, Brazil has the fourth largest prison population in the world. It has 600,000 inmates packed into a number of increasingly ramshackle jails and, at Monte Cristo, there are 1,400 inmates held in a prison which was supposed to have a capacity of half that figure.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org


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