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Brazil prisoners decapitated in Cascavel jail riot | Brazil prisoners decapitated in Cascavel jail riot |
(about 3 hours later) | |
Police in Brazil say rioters in a jail in the southern city of Cascavel have killed four fellow inmates and injured several others. | Police in Brazil say rioters in a jail in the southern city of Cascavel have killed four fellow inmates and injured several others. |
Two of the victims were decapitated and others were pushed from the roof of the building, two of whom died, they said. | Two of the victims were decapitated and others were pushed from the roof of the building, two of whom died, they said. |
At least 700 prisoners are reported to be involved in the uprising, which began on Sunday morning. | At least 700 prisoners are reported to be involved in the uprising, which began on Sunday morning. |
The prisoners are said to be unhappy about how the prison is run, as well as about food and hygiene there. | The prisoners are said to be unhappy about how the prison is run, as well as about food and hygiene there. |
Local media showed prisoners beating men held with ropes around their necks on the roof of one of the buildings. | Local media showed prisoners beating men held with ropes around their necks on the roof of one of the buildings. |
'Psychological torture' | 'Psychological torture' |
The trouble broke out when warders delivering food to inmates were reportedly overpowered. | |
As many as 1,000 prisoners then took over parts of the jail, ransacking and setting fire to much of it. | |
The rioting prisoners have their faces covered with improvised balaclavas. | The rioting prisoners have their faces covered with improvised balaclavas. |
The leaders of the rebellion are holding at least two prison guards hostage. | |
"They are using the severed head of one of the prisoners to inflict psychological torture on one of the hostages," said Jairo Ferreira, lawyer for the prison agents' union. | "They are using the severed head of one of the prisoners to inflict psychological torture on one of the hostages," said Jairo Ferreira, lawyer for the prison agents' union. |
"There are scenes of terror inside the jail now," he told local newspaper Gazeta do Povo. | "There are scenes of terror inside the jail now," he told local newspaper Gazeta do Povo. |
The BBC's Wyre Davies in Rio de Janeiro says violence between prisoners most likely involves members of rival drug gangs. | |
Negotiations are under way to put an end to the uprising, which has led to the destruction of most of the penitentiary, according to O Globo newspaper. | Negotiations are under way to put an end to the uprising, which has led to the destruction of most of the penitentiary, according to O Globo newspaper. |
The Security Secretary of Parana State, Maria Tereza Uille Gomes, has travelled to Cascavel to take over the negotiations. | The Security Secretary of Parana State, Maria Tereza Uille Gomes, has travelled to Cascavel to take over the negotiations. |
Brazil has the world's fourth largest prison population, with half a million inmates in facilities meant to hold 300,000. | Brazil has the world's fourth largest prison population, with half a million inmates in facilities meant to hold 300,000. |
Our correspondent says that, across the country, many poorly resourced jails are in effect run by powerful crime gangs. | |
Earlier this year the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, called for an investigation into the high number of violent deaths in Brazil's prisons after previous riots at a jail in the north of the country left dozens of people dead. |