At Least Seven Dead in Riot at Guatemalan Maximum Security Prison

Inmates escaping from Las Gaviotas Male Juvenile Detention Centre during a riot stand on the roof of a warehouse nearby in Guatemala City, on July 3, 2017. (Johan Ordonez/AFP/Getty Images)

At least seven people were shot dead and four were wounded on Sept. 30, in a prison riot in Guatemala, according to local authorities, who said they had wrested back control.

The riot spun out of a brawl among prisoners in the Pavoncito maximum security prison, said prison spokesman Rudy Esquivel.

Volunteer firefighters reported that four people were transferred to hospital and at least seven inmates died from bullet wounds, according to local newspaper, Prensa Libre.

General view of the first Rehabilitation and Social Reintegration Center of the new Guatemalan Penitentiary administration model after its inauguration in Fraijanes, Guatemala City, on March 6, 2017. (Johan Ordonez/AFP/Getty Images)

“The incident happened in an area of isolation. No guard was injured or deceased,” Esquivel told local media.

Authorities have since retaken control, he added.

At least 12 inmates died in a riot in July 2013 at the same prison, in the town of Fraijanes, about 12 miles from the Guatemalan capital.

The reason for the fight and the names of the victims was not immediately known.

by Sofia Menchu and Delphine Schrank