2 dead and several injured in Guatemala prison riot

At least two people were reported dead after a riot broke out in a prison in Guatemala on Sunday (19 March). Prison authorities reportedly said that the victims were jail monitors.

Several other people were injured in the incident, which the National Civil Police said took place at the Central Correctional Stage II prison in San Jose Pinula — about 20km east of the capital.

Prison officials said that following the riot, inmates also started a fire in one part of the prison. Police threw tear gas canisters to control the violent outbreak.

The Associated Press quoted volunteer firefighters as telling local media that the dead jail monitors had been beaten, but the cause of death had not been determined.

The AP report, however, did not carry details on the cause of the riot at the Central Correctional Stage II prison in San Jose Pinula, which mainly houses juveniles and adults.

Guatemala was recently in the news for a deadly fire that killed nearly 40 girls at a shelter home for abused children and teenagers. The fire was reportedly caused after a riot broke out at the place when residents protested against poor living conditions and overcrowded rooms at the shelter home.