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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, December 25, 2002

Brutal Guatemalan Prison Riot Kills 18

Rioting inmates at a jail outside Guatemala's capital decapitated a fellow prisoner and burned 14 others to death during a brutal riot, authorities said. In all, 18 inmates died over two days.


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Rioting inmates at a jail outside Guatemala's capital decapitated a fellow prisoner and burned 14 others to death during a brutal riot, authorities said. In all, 18 inmates died over two days.

At least 30 others were seriously injured during the riot, which began with hundreds of inmates demanding more visiting rights and the dismissal of guards, authorities said.

Maximum-security prisoners first staged a small uprising late Monday, seizing part of the 1,228-inmate Pavoncito prison. One prisoner was killed. Authorities then tried to negotiate an end to the riot without further violence, said Emilio Najera, a Guatemala City fire department spokesman.

When talks broke down, a group of prisoners captured Julio Beteta, an inmate who police say controlled drugs and weapons distribution within the prison. Inmates used makeshift knives and machetes to decapitate Beteta and then "paraded his head around in front of other prisoners," Najera said.

Prison authorities confirmed that one inmate was decapitated, but said the victim had not been identified.

The decapitation touched off a bloody battle between several different inmate factions, and prisoners began using machetes to seize control of different parts of the prison.

Members of one gang rounded up 14 injured prisoners from another gang, doused them with gasoline and lit them on fire, Najera said. All 14 died.

Police in riot gear then stormed the prison and restored order early Tuesday. Police director Raul Manchame said no prisoners escaped during the uprising.

Source: Agencies


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