26 inmates killed new prison riots in Brazil

By Maria Paz Salas

SANTIAGO, Chile

Twenty-six inmates were killed in riots in two prisons in northern Brazil, authorities there said Sunday.

The fighting broke out Saturday in the latest string of deadly prison riots across Brazil that have killed at least 120 people since the beginning of the year.

The latest violence was sparked when a fight between two rival gangs broke out at the Alcacuz and Rogerio Coutinho facilities near the city of Natal, in Rio Grande do Norte state.

The riot began around 5 p.m. local time (1700GMT) Saturday in Alcacuz, and continued until 7 a.m. (0900GMT) Sunday, when police officers took control of the prison. Officials said they waited until dawn before entering 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.

President Michel Temer said on Twitter that he had been following the situation.

Alcacuz, like many of the country’s prisons are overcrowded. The prison holds 1,000 inmates in a facility built for just prisoners.

Violence is common in overcrowded prisons and 40 percent of inmates have yet to be sentenced.

The outbreak of violence at Brazil’s prisons began Jan. 1 when 56 inmates were killed in the northern state of Amazonas.