BRAZIL: 30 inmates feared dead in another outbreak of prison violence

A fresh outbreak of prison violence which occurred late Saturday in one of the overcrowded facilities in the northeastern region of Brazil has claimed the lives of at least 30 inmates.

According to a source who pleaded anonymity because forensic work is still under way, about a dozen inmates in the Alcacuz prison located in the state of Rio Grande do Norte have been taken to nearby hospitals.

He also said the number of casualties could rise.

Police officers could only take control of the prison situation of the riots which lasted for more than 12 hours from 5pm local time (17:00 GMT) in Alcacuz, and continued until 7am (09:00GMT), at dawn when they entered the prisons after they gained control of the situation.

“This way we guaranteed a calm intervention, a pacific intervention without resistance from the inmates,” state security chief, Caio Cesar Bezerra, told local media.

Brazil’s overcrowded prisons are common with violence as over 40 percent of inmates have yet to be sentenced and the outbreak which began on the 1st of January saw the killing of 56 inmates in the northern state of Amazonas.