Two inmates have been decapitated, two others pushed to their deaths from the roof of a prison, more are missing and guards are being held hostage, in a prison riot in Southern Brazil.
James Blears reports that authorities are facing a full blown crisis and the situation is rapidly worsening:
A thousand inmates are unconfined and on the loose throughout the jail in the City
of Cascavel, after overpowering guards and taking them captive. Hooded prisoners have
reached the roof and are stripping of materials to use as missiles to hurl. Old scores
are being settled with several inamates having been thrown to their deaths while others
are being held with makeshift nooses around their necks.
Chronic overcrowding, inadequate diets, poor sanitation and a deeply flawed penal
system are catalysts, which have become triggers for outbursts.... and now outrages.
But this particular riot appears to have been orchastrated by rival factions of incarcerated
organized crime. Specially trained negotiators are trying to mediate a way out of
this volotile crisis but its ringleaders are currently unwilling to cooperate because
they know full well, that they'll have to answer for a catelogue of savage crimes
commited during this riot- one of a number which are becoming more commonplace in
Brazil's vastly overcrowded prison population.
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