At least 20 dead after inmates attempt to prison escape in Brazil
Photo released by Brazilian newspaper Diario do Para showing relatives of inmates of the Santa Izabel prison trying to block an access road to the complex in Belem, state of Para, Brazil, on April 10, 2018.
At least 21 people were killed in a shootout during an escape attempt at a prison in Belem, local authorities informed. Among the dead, besides prisoners and a guard, there are "heavily armed" men who tried to help the prisoners. / AFP PHOTO / Diario Do Para / Celso RODRIGUES / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / DIARIO DO PARA / CELSO RODRIGUES" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS - BRAZIL OUT Rio De Janeiro: At least 20 people were killed on Tuesday when inmates attempted to escape from a prison in northern Brazil, official sources said. The event took place at 1 p.m. local time in the Santa Izabel Prison Complex, in the northern city of Belem, capital of the state of Para, when a group of armed men attacked the prison and sought to help some prisoners escape, Xinhua cited security officials as saying.
Nineteen of the dead have been identified as prisoners and their supporters trying to rescue them from outside. One prison guard also died. Four other guards were injured, one severely, said public security officials of Para state. According to the Secretariat of Public Security and Social Defense of Para, a group of prisoners began a riot with kidnapping six security guards. Meanwhile, their allies outside attacked one of the gates with explosives, to which the guards reacted by opening fire.