JAIR ARAUJO/AFP/Getty Images(RIO DE JANEIRO) — At least 56 prison inmates in Brazil are dead, and many of them decapitated, in the country’s deadliest prison riot since 1992, officials said according to BBC.
The unrest began Sunday at the overcrowded Anisio Jobim Penitentiary Complex in Manaus when two rival gangs began to fight, BBC reports. After 17 hours of violence, the inmates belonging to local gang Family of the North (FDN) turned over their weapons and the prison guards they had taken hostage.
The FDN allegedly started the riot with First Capital Command (PCC), a gang based in Sao Paulo, for control over drug-trafficking in northern Brazil, state public security secretary Sergio Fontes said according to BBC.
Prisoners were able to get weapons through a hole in a wall, the secretary said according to BBC, and authorities found tunnels and several firearms in a search after the riot.
During the hours-long ordeal, it appeared the reason for the bloodshed was for the FDN to send a message to the PCC, Fontes said, as the local gang made no demands during negotiations except to not be mistreated by police when they entered, BBC reports.
Authorities regained control over the prison, according to BBC, but police in Brazil were searching for possible escapees on Monday.
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