Inmates have rioted in a jail leading to at least seven deaths.
Prisoners went on the rampage in the early hours of yesterday (19 December) morning.
They burned mattresses and started multiple fires within the facility.
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Elements of the Mexican Army and National Guard were sent to the Tabasco State Social Reintegration Centre (CRESET) in Villahermosa, southeast of Mexico City to deal with the unrest.
According to reports, gunshots and detonations could be heard from outside the prison walls.
Inmates accused the soldiers of trying to kill them in videos that have surfaced of the riot.
One convict said: “We are in CRESET in Villahermosa, we are being attacked by the National Guard, they are shooting at us.”
Another claimed: “They are killing us, they are killing us here in the prison.
“Families, come help us.
“The government of May (Tabasco governor Javier May Rodríguez), and Víctor Hugo Chávez (head of the Secretariat of Security and Citizen Protection), are killing people in the prison.”
At the same time, concerned relatives showed up outside the prison to demand answers.
One family member said: “They don’t want to come out to face us, if there are ambulances here, something is going on inside.
“There are wounded people, dead people too.”
Violent episodes were also reported in other areas of the city, including an arson attack at an Oxxo supermarket and the burning of several vehicles.
Angry relatives even reportedly blocked the main highway that leads to the prison.
They demanded that the authorities provide them with information about what was happening beyond the prison walls.
State prosecutor José Barajas Mejía confirmed that seven people were killed during the prison riot, as reported by Need To Know.
They have been identified as Jorge Francisco ‘N’, Marcelo ‘N’, Mario de Jesús ‘N’, Alejandro ‘N’, Iván ‘N’, Cristhian ‘N’, and Antonio ‘N’.
Barajas said the cause of the unrest could be related to gang violence inside the prison.
He stated: “Violent individuals have maintained control, even while inside the prison.”
The situation has since been brought under control as the authorities investigate the causes behind the riot.
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