MEXICO CITY (Xinhua) – At least 28 people were killed in a prison riot on Thursday between suspected members of rival gangs in a prison in southern Mexican state of Guerrero, according to local authorities.
At a press conference, Guerrero’s security spokesperson, Roberto Alvarez Heredia, said that the fight began around 4 a.m. in Las Cruces prison in Acapulco. The fighting took place within block 1, block 3 and in the yard.
No information has been given so far on the identity of the deceased but Heredia said the families would be notified first. He stated that the violence had been contained after the police took control of the prison and no detainees had escaped.
Heredia explained that “the incident began due to the permanent struggle of rival groups inside the prison.”
This prison is the most crowded in Guerrero, with 2,100 prisoners, according to Mexican government statistics.