Venezuelan prison riot leaves at least 46 dead, 60 injured

Inmates gather on the roof of the National Bolivarian Police prison during a riot in Caracas in 2015. /Reuters

At least 46 people died and 60 were injured in a prison riot in the western Venezuelan state of Portuguesa, a rights group and an opposition lawmaker reported.

The bodies were identified after the incident on Friday at the Los Llanos penitentiary, according to Beatriz Giron, director of the Venezuelan Observatory of Prisons which advocates for inmates' rights.

The country's prisons minister, Iris Varela, told local newspaper Ultimas Noticias on Friday that the incident was triggered by an escape attempt and the prison director had been shot and wounded. She did not give a death toll, and Venezuela's Information Ministry did not respond to a request for comment.

Maria Beatriz Martinez, an opposition lawmaker from Portuguesa, said the riot came after a ban on inmates' family members bringing them food during visitation, which is common in Venezuelan prisons. The visitation restrictions are part of the country's effort to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 in its overcrowded prisons.

Riots in prisons were incited on account of such restrictions in several countries, including Italy. In Argentina, prisoners rioted last month to demand some inmates be freed due to fears of infection.

Source(s): Reuters