Troops End Riot At Brazil Prison

More than 200 heavily armed riot troopers raided a penitentiary in southeastern Brazil on Wednesday to quell a prison riot in which at least six people died.

About 700 inmates rose up Monday at the Hortolandia Penitentiary, 70 miles northwest of Sao Paulo. The prison holds nearly 3,000 inmates.

The inmates, who held 22 prison workers hostage, had demanded getaway vehicles, weapons and ammunition. State officials refused and ordered the raid.

State Police Capt. Antonio Carlos de Souza said prisoners during the raid “shot and stabbed to death” two of the hostages - the director of discipline, Sebastiao Martin Silveira, and a prison guard. He said three prisoners were killed in the raid.

According to Souza, the riot began Monday morning when guards, suspecting that some inmates had firearms and knives, held a cell-bycell search.