Brazil prison riots: Rival gangs' clash leaves 57 dead, several decapitated

Clashes between two organised crime groups in a prison in Brazil on Monday has left 57 people dead, with several of them being decapitated. Authorities at the Altamira prison in northern Brazil said the riots started around 7am local time after a fight broke out between members of the rival gangs, Comando Vermelho and Comando Classe A.

Prison officials, in a statement, said that leaders of the local crime group Comando Classe A set fire to a cell belonging to members of the Rio de Janeiro-based Comando Vermelho. The fire spread quickly and most of the victims died in the blaze. Two prison guards were taken hostage, but were released eventually.

State prisons chief Jarbas Vasconcelos said that the fire prevented police forces from entering the building for several hours. He added that the violence was a targeted attack to settle scores between the groups and not a show of protest against the prison system. He said they had no prior information that such an attack would take place.

Unverified videos have been circulating online that showed inmates at the prison celebrating as they kicked decapitated heads across the floor. At least 16 inmates have been decapitated.

Last year, inmates had already set fire to another wing inside the same prison unit, according to the state prosecutors' office.

Brazil's government has long struggled to control the country's overcrowded jails. President Jair Bolsonaro was, in fact, elected on the promise of curbing such violence in Brazil, including in its overcrowded prisons.

The prisons chief, however, has dismissed the notion that the situation in Altamira did not meet official requirements to be considered overcrowded.

Prison authorities have said that 46 inmates will be transferred to other prisons, 10 of which will go to stricter federal facilities.

In May, 55 inmates were killed in a series of riots in several prison attacks in the state of Amazonas.

In early 2017, nearly 150 inmates were killed in prisons in Amazonas as local gangs clashed over drug-trafficking routes. The violence lasted several weeks, spreading to various states.