Dozens Dead In Latest Brazil Prison Riot
Dozens of people were killed in a prison riot in Brazil on Friday, with some of the dead having been beheaded, according to multiple reports. It was the latest instance of deadly prison violence in the country.
Local news outlet Noticias de Misiones tweeted a graphic photo purportedly from Friday's prison massacre.
At least 33 people were killed from Friday's riot in a prison located in the country's Amazon region, the Guardian reported. The riot at the Monte Cristo Agricultural Prison, located in the state of Roraima in the northern part of the country, has since gotten "under control," a local official told Noticias de Misiones.
Friday's riot came just days after at least 56 people were killed in a separate prison riot in Brazil between warring drug factions. That riot, which occurred Sunday overnight, happened in a prison also located in the Amazon region.
No official cause for Friday's riot was immediately announced, Noticias de Misiones reported. However, because Sunday's riot was between the PCC and the Red Command — two of the country's most notorious drug gangs — local experts predicted more riots and more deaths.
"This situation is tense, very ripe for new tragedies," Camila Dias, who has authored a book on the PCC, told Reuters on Wednesday. "This was a butchery foretold."
Prison deaths are not a new phenomenon, but at least one prisoner in Brazil dies each day, according to a recent review by South American news outlet Telesur. Last year alone, 372 inmates were murdered in Brazil.
Overcrowding in Brazilian prisons could be adding to existing tensions between inmates. For instance, the Manaus prison, where Sunday's riot took place, has the capacity to accommodate 562 inmates. However, when the riot broke out last weekend, it was housing 1,224 inmates.
More than 600,000 people incarcerated in Brazil as of Friday, ranking the South American country at No. 4 among largest prison populations in the world.
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