Death toll from Brazil prison riot rises to 57

By Beyza Binnur Donmez

ANKARA (AA) - The death toll from a prison riot in Brazil that broke out after confrontation between rival criminal factions climbed to 57 on Tuesday, according to a local media.

Officials at Altamira Regional Recovery Center in the southwestern state of Para said 16 of the victims were decapitated while 41 were of asphyxiated by smoke inhalation, according to The Rio Times monthly newspaper.

The Office of Public Security Management ordered the immediate transfer of 46 prisoners involved in the confrontation, including 16 detainees identified as leaders of criminal organizations.

Ten of these are to be transferred to federal prisons, while the remaining inmates will be redistributed between penitentiaries in Para, said the office.

Some 52 prisoners died since the riot started on Monday. Jarbas Vasconcelos, the chief of state prisons, said the death toll was expected to rise once all areas of the prison were completely searched.

Vasconcelos said inmates also set fires to prevent authorities from entering.

The Rio de Janeiro-based newspaper reported that two prison officers who were taken hostage have since been freed.