At least 17 prisoners have been killed in a gang brawl inside an overcrowded Guatemalan prison, including seven who were decapitated, officials say. Victor Mijangos, assistant prosecutor for the Escuintla district, said on Monday that the fight broke out the afternoon before in the Canada Rehabilitation Farm about 70km south of the capital, Guatemala City.
“All were killed by machete and knife wounds,” said Mijangos, who entered the prison. Officials found 16 bodies together inside and one more prisoner died of his wounds at a hospital.
He said officials found the heads of three men, apparently the leaders of a group, on top of a table. No one was killed or wounded by gunfire, he said. Another government official had said earlier that the fight started with gunfire.
Rudy Esquivel, prison system spokesman, said the prison was designed to hold 600 inmates, but houses 3,092. He said firefighters had removed 16 bodies from the prison and they were still being identified.
