A PRISONER RIOT INSIDE A BRAZILIAN STATE PRISON in Joao Pessoa started a large fire that killed 7 inmates and at least 48 others suffered injuries and burns. Five of the dead prisoners died in their cells and the other two died on the way to the hospital.
Police say that the riot was triggered by a prison gang as a diversion to set up an opportunity for an escape attempt by a leading gang lord who was scheduled to be moved to another prison. But the police had already discovered the plot and it was thwarted. The fire was started by a group of prisoners in one wing who all set fire to their mattresses. The flames quickly spread throughout the cell blocks of the facility that houses 850 inmates.
The Latin American Herald Tribune has MORE.
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IN SANTA BARBARA, HONDURAS, A BAND OF 79 PRISONERS escaped in a major jail break after setting fire to the jail. While making a run for it they also set fire to a city market and a cultural center. Police made a quick roundup and captured 76 of them. The Associated Press reports:
Police spokesman Orlin Cerrato says officers shot and wounded 11 of the inmates who escaped Friday from a state-run prison in the town of Santa Barbara, located about 220 miles (350 kilometers) west of Tegucigalpa.
Three inmates remain at large. Cerrato says two of the fugitives have been convicted of murder and one has been convicted of robbery.
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