Brazil prison riot leaves 56 dead, police in hunt for scores of fugitives

Relatives gathered near the prison complex to get information about their beloved ones in the Amazonas state of Brazil on January 2, 2017.

BBC – Police in northern Brazil are searching for dozens of inmates who escaped from an overcrowded prison complex during a riot that left 56 dead, officials say.

The area in Manaus, in Amazonas state, has been isolated. Officials say 40 out of 87 fugitives have been recaptured.

Meanwhile, families have gathered outside the local morgue to identify the victims. Some were decapitated.
The violence began on Sunday and ended 17 hours later. It was the deadliest prison riot in Brazil in years.

Officials said the riot at the Anisio Jobim Penitentiary Centre, the biggest in Amazonas, was sparked by fighting between rival gangs over the control of prisons and drug routes.

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