Thirty dead in Brazil jail riot
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-06-02 14:47

Inmates at a Rio de Janeiro prison killed at least 30 people, beheading half of them, in three days of gang war anarchy that marked the worst jail violence in Brazil in more than 10 years, police said on Tuesday.

Inmates in the Benfica prison of Rio de Janeiro hold written messages to parents and relatives waiting outside the compound, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Monday, May 31, 2004. The banners say: 'We want peace. Only Jesus' and 'Ana I love you and my sons'. [AP]

They said 15 decapitated bodies were found in the Benfica jail, which opened only a month ago, in an overnight search after the rioting ended late on Monday. Many corpses were charred.

"It was a truly horrific scene ... There were bodies dumped in garbage containers, heads, body parts," said Rio state lawmaker Geraldo Moreira, who visited the prison.

The mutinous prisoners, some of them armed with pistols and shotguns, surrendered and freed more than 20 hostages after talks mediated by a priest.

Riot in Brazil : An inmate waves through a hole in the wall during a riot at Benfica's prison in Rio de Janeiro. [AFP]

The dead included a guard who had been taken hostage. He was shot execution-style in the back on Sunday.

Police said earlier 34 people had died and coroners reported as many as 38 bodies, but the state security secretariat gave 30 as the final death toll on Tuesday night.

Police fired shots in the air on Tuesday to disperse a crowd of people who gathered outside the prison to find out if relatives among the prisoners were safe. No list of casualties was available.

Police officials said the violence involved rival drug gangs which control most of Rio's teeming "favelas" or slums. Many of the kingpins run their operations from behind bars.

The bloodshed marked Brazil's worst prison violence since the 1992 police massacre of 111 inmates at the Carandiru prison in neighboring Sao Paulo state.

Brazilian jails have seen repeated revolts, usually sparked by appalling conditions including overcrowding. In April, 14 inmates died in an Amazon prison. A riot in the same prison in 2002 claimed 27 lives.

Close

Today's Top News     Top World News
10 years later, China issues new auto lines         FM urges early lift of EU arms ban         US agrees to time limit on troops withdrawal         Mooted anti-monopoly law to benefit all         30,000 km highways to create economic hub         Grandparents' mentoring role questioned	Iran admits importing parts for uranium       Thirty dead in Brazil jail riot       US Army saw prison violations last fall       'Fear premium' pushes gas prices higher       Rioting mourners clash with Karachi police       Iraq council disbands; CPA still in power