99 inmates at large after prison riot in Brazil

SAO PAULO – Police say 99 inmates are at large following a prison riot that left nine dead and 14 injured in central Brazil.

The two-hour uprising occurred Monday at the Colonia Agroindustrial prison in the Aparecida de Goiania Complex in the state of Goias.

The state’ Public Safety and Prison Affairs Department said Tuesday the riot broke out when inmates from one cellblock invaded three others where prisoners from rival gangs are housed. The attackers set mattresses on fire when they entered the neighboring corridors and burned the bodies of those killed.

Police say 143 of the 242 prisoners who fled during the riot had been recaptured by Tuesday morning. Nearly 130 inmates fled during the violence but returned voluntarily when the riot ended.