Sixteen inmates killed in Mexico prison fight

Video Credit: Reuters Studio
Published on January 2, 2020 - Duration: 01:12s

Sixteen inmates killed in Mexico prison fight

A deadly prison brawl in the northern part of the country is one of the worst outbreaks of violence since President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador took office.

Olivia Chan reports.


Sixteen inmates killed in Mexico prison fight

Sixteen inmates were killed and five others wounded in a prison fight in Northern Mexico.

It marks one of the worst outbreaks of violence since president Lopez Obrador took power.

The fight broke out Tuesday (31 December 2019) at a correctional facility in the town of Cieneguillas.

Local media say the dispute was triggered by a soccer game.

Afterwards one inmate was arrested with a firearm and three more guns were found in the prison.

Authorities did not comment on the cause of the deadly brawl.

However, local officials confirmed the situation was brought under control.

Mexico launched an investigation to determine how the guns - and several knives - were brought into the prison.

The country's penal system is notorious for violent clashes.

Prisons there are infamous for being overcrowded and corrupt.

It's also another blow to the security track record of leader Lopez Obrador.

The president took office pledging to reduce record levels of violence in Mexico.

Instead, the latest data shows 2019 was a grisly year, with the tally of homicides on track to surge past the year before.

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