57 Prisoners Found Dead In Many Prisons In Northern Brazil

Over 55 Inmates Die In Several Prisons In Northern Brazilian State

• Fifty-seven prisoners died in chaotic riots in four different prisons in northern Brazil.
• Authorities confirmed 15 prisoners were found dead on Sunday and 42 other prisoners were found dead on Monday.
• Brazil's jails are often plagued by gang violence. In 2017, 56 people died in the gang rebellion in the same jail.
• Brazil has the world's third-largest prison-population; 726,712 as of 2016 which is almost double the capacity of the country's prisons.

At least 57 prisoners died in riots at four prisons in Northern Brazil in two days, authorities confirmed.

Authorities told the Agencia Brasil news agency that 15 inmates were found dead on Sunday and the 42 other prisoners were found dead on Monday in the city of Manaus, capital of Amazonas.

Most of the victims were found in the Antonio Trindade Penal Institute near Manaus, and most of them reportedly died from asphyxia. The fight broke out at around 11 a.m. during the visiting hours at the facility. Colonel Marcos Vinicius Almeida said in a news conference:

It was a fight between the inmates. There had never been death during the visits.

It was the same facility where 56 people died after the 20-hour-long prison rebellion in January 2017. Brazilian (especially northern) prisons used to get into these kinds of mayhem and are plagued by gang violence. Brazil has the world's third-largest prison population, 726,712 which is double the capacity of the jails.

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