Ten killed in Paraguay prison riot: interior ministry

Interior minister Juan Villamayor said that there was a "confrontation" between "two feared criminal organisations" at the prison in San Pedro de Ycuamandiyu, some 400 km northeast of the capital.

June 17, 2019 08:16 am | Updated 08:16 am IST - Asuncion (Paraguay):

A riot at a prison in Paraguay left 10 inmates dead and 10 wounded, the interior ministry said Sunday.

Interior minister Juan Villamayor said that there was a "confrontation" between "two feared criminal organizations" at the prison in San Pedro de Ycuamandiyu, some 400 km northeast of the capital.

"All of the dead belong to the narco groups," Mr. Villamayor said.

One of the organizations involved is originally from the Brazilian state of Sao Paulo, while the other is made up of drug traffickers from both countries, according to authorities.

The riot began at noon (1600 GMT) and lasted for about three hours, at a time when there were few guards.

Five of those killed on Sunday were decapitated and three were burned, Mr. Villamayor said.

The unrest is the latest in a series of deadly prison riots to hit Latin American countries, including one in Brazil that killed 40 people last month.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.