Durango, Mexico: Authorities yesterday said the death toll has risen to 22 in a clash at a prison in northern Mexico, which erupted when inmates tried to escape.
The tally includes 13 inmates and nine guards, according to two top officials, up from the 11 and six originally reported.
The three additional guards were found to be dead after a roll call following the uprising at the prison in the city of Gomez Palacio, Jesus Rosso, the Durango state public safety secretary, told MVS radio.
Two additional prisoners died later of their injuries, he and another official, Fernando Rios Quinones, added separately.
Rosso said the fighting broke out Tuesday when guards pulled the alarm after realising prisoners were planning to escape.
As the alarm bells rang out in the facility, the inmates began shooting at the guard towers and the wardens’ office, he said.
In the midst of the shooting, a group of inmates tried to escape through tunnels and over a back fence. Guards initially fired in the air before returning the prisoners’ fire directly.
Troops deployed to the prison eventually put a stop to the attempted jailbreak and regained control of the facility. Rosso declined to specify what kind of weapons the prisoners were using or how they were obtained.
He said the killed guards were unarmed, because when in contact with inmates they are not allowed to use weapons. Only agents posted outside the prison were allowed to use weapons, the secretary explained.
AFP
