Brazil jail riot sees hundreds of inmates escape

By Euronews

Published on 24/01/2017 - 19:22 GMT+1

At least 150 inmates escaped from a prison in Brazil on Tuesday after a mass a riot broke out.

Aerial footage showed heavy smoke coming from the jail in Bauru, some 350 kilometres west of Sao Paulo, after it was set on fire.

Brazilian prison authorities say 90 of the escapee prisoners have been recaptured and the facility is now under control.

The riot is the latest in a wave of violence to hit Brazil’s jails, which suffer from chronic overcrowding.

According to official data, more than 620,000 adults are behind bars – almost 70 percent more than the country’s prisons were built to hold.

Earlier this week, in another jail in the north east of Brazil, shipping containers were used to seperate rival gangs after 26 inmates were killed.

Since the start of the year, around 140 people are thought to have been killed inside Brazil’s prison system.

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