Brazil prison riot kills more than 60 in Amazonas state

Police have been searching for possible escapees

A riot in an overcrowded prison in northern Brazil has left at least 60 inmates dead, many of them decapitated, officials say.

The unrest in Manaus, in Amazonas state, started on Sunday after a fight between rival gangs, police said.
The violence ended 17 hours later, when the inmates surrendered their weapons and freed unharmed the last of 12 guards they had taken hostage.


Brazil has the world's fourth largest prison population. There are some 600,000 inmates in the country, and overcrowding is a serious problem. Reports said the capacity of the Anisio Jobim Penitentiary Centre, the biggest in Amazonas, was for 454 inmates, but it had 1,224 men.

When the riot began, six headless bodies were thrown over the perimeter fence of the prison. The state public security secretary, Sergio Fontes, said rival gangs operating inside and outside the prison have been fighting for control over drug trafficking.