Brazil: Rioting prisoners threaten to throw inmates off roof of Londrina State Penitentiary

At least ten people have been taken hostage by rioting inmates who took over a Brazilian prison on 6 October, according to local reports. The prisoners took over the Londrina State Penitentiary Unit II in the morning and held it throughout the day and into the evening.

Inmates, armed with knives and sticks, took to the roof of the prison where they beat and hog-tied some of the hostages and threatened to throw them over the side of the building. The hostages are reportedly other inmates, all said to be from a section of the prison that houses sexual offenders.

There were no reports of any of the hostages being thrown from the roof, though two inmates were taken to an area hospital after they were injured when they leapt from the building as they tried to escape the mob for fear they too would be taken hostage.

The rioting inmates at the prison in the southern state of Parana broke windows and lit fires in the overcrowded prison as police and family members gathered outside.

Prison riots are not uncommon in Brazil where many of the country's prisons are drastically overcrowded and inmates complain of poor living conditions. The Londrina State Penitentiary Unit II, which is designed to house 928 inmates, reportedly has 1,140 prisoners currently.