Dozens of people have been killed in a prison riot in Venezuela. The Associated Press reported that authorities have launched an investigation on the riot.
The exact number of deaths have not been released in the Uribana prison riot located in the city of Barquisimeto but the local newspaper, Ultimas Noticias said the death toll was 54. Globvision reported 50 people were killed in the riot.
Iris Varela, Penitentiary Service Minister said on tv that the riot happened after some inmates attacked National Guard troops that were trying to do an inspection.
"Varela said the violence had affected a number of prisoners and officials, but said the authorities would hold off until control had been re-established at the prison to confirm the toll. She said the government decided to send troops to search the prison after receiving reports of clashes between groups of inmates during the past two days.," reported The AP.
Henrique Capriles, Opposition leader said the government has issues handling overcrowded prisons.
"Our country's prisons are an example of the incapacity of this government and its leaders. They never solved the problem," Capriles said on on Twitter. "How many more deaths do there have to be in the prisons for the government to acknowledge its failure and make changes?"
Varela said to Al Jazeera that the inmates were being taken to other prisons.
Among those that died include a member of the National Guard and a pastor.
Al Jazeera reported that Venezuelan vice president Nicholas Maduro said that "prisons need to be places of re-education not for crimes and mafia "While the country's prisons have been built to house 14,000 inmates, there are almost 50,000 prisoners behind bar," reported Al Jazeera.
Reuters reported that the violence also involved rival gangs that both wanted control of the jail.
Reuters reported that Venezuelan prisons are controlled by armed gangs and they have rioted many times over the last few years.
Venzuela has 34 prisons that are designed to hold a third of the 50,000 inmates that they now have.
The South American nation's 34 prisons were designed to hold around a third of the 50,000 inmates now in them, according to local prison advocacy groups. Many of the prisoners are armed and hundreds are killed each year in riots and gang fights.
A month-long siege occurred in 2011 at El Rodeo prison, just outside the capital of Caracas, when 22 died before some 5,000 soldiers restored order.
(Reporting by Deisy Buitrago and Pablo Garibian, writing by Brian Ellsworth; editing by Philip Barbara)
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
