PORTO VELHO, Brazil, Oct. 18 (UPI) — At least eight inmates died from smoke inhalation in a prison in Brazil’s Rondonia state after a gang fight, which authorities compared to an earlier incident in which 10 inmates died.
The latest incident occurred Monday in the Enio dos Santos Pinheiro prison in Porto Velho, the capital of Rondonia. At least two inmates were taken to a local hospitalshowing symptoms of asphyxia.
The prison’s warden said the fight began after the leader of a gang was transferred to the compound, which is controlled by a rival gang. Inmates rioted and attempted to carry out a mass escape armed with sticks, iron pikes and other weapons before Brazilian security officials took control of the facility, officials said.
“The incident began at dawn when the two groups started fighting, and one of the gangs set mattresses and other objects on fire in front of the cell where the eight fatal victims were locked,” prison warden Jobson Bandeira said, the Latin American Herald Tribune reported.
On Sunday, at least 10 inmates were killed, including some who were beheaded and some burned to death, in Brazil’s Monte Cristo Rural Penitentiary after two rival gangs clashed. Factions of the same gangs were involved in both incidents.
Brazilian authorities revised the death toll from Sunday’s incident from 25 killed down to 10 killed on Monday.
