30 dead in Bolivian prison riot

A riot in Bolivia’s Palmasola Prison left 30 dead, and at least 50 injured early Friday morning.

Officials say the riot began when a fight erupted between two prison gangs over unpaid extortion fees. Prisoners in one cell block knocked a hole in the wall separating them from another cell block. They continued to blow up a metal propane tank between the two cell blocks, resulting in a fire. It took two hours for authorities to contain the fire, ABC News reports.

Interior Minister of the prison, Carlos Romero, told news sources, “The victims were trapped in the fire.”

Palmasola is Bolivia’s largest prison. Many say the prison needs significant reformation as it is almost entirely controlled by inmates. Former inmates say that almost anything, including weapons, drugs, a larger cell, can be obtained in the prison for a fee.

Authorities also believe they found the body of a badly burned baby among the wreckage, says BBC News. Prison policy allows the children of inmates to live in the overcrowded prison with their parents, a rule the United Nations has protested in the past.

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