At least 13 inmates have died had eight have been badly wounded after Mexican police opened fire inside a jail in order to quell a riot.
Officers used lethal force inside the state jail in Cadereyta, in the east of the country, on Tuesday afternoon after violence broke out the day before.
Police said they tried to stop the riot using non-lethal means, but when efforts failed they decided to use lethal force to protect the lives of guards and other inmates.
Thirteen inmates have died and eight were badly wounded after police opened fire inside Cadereyta jail, in Mexico, in order to stop a riot
Violence first broke out on Monday before escalating on Tuesday, with gang members killing one inmate and burning his body
The prisoners then took guards and other inmates hostage on the roof before setting fires across the facility
Helicopters were brought in to douse the flames as police attempted to use non-lethal means to quell the riot, but to no avail
Desperate relatives were seen battling with police outside the facility as they tried to get news on loved ones locked up inside.
Meanwhile helicopters circled overhead and could be seen dumping water on several large plumes of black smoke rising into the sky.
Authorities could see through video monitors that at least one prisoner had already been killed and guards had been taken hostage, Fasci said. The guards were being held and beaten on the roof.
‘If they had not taken these decisions right now we would be talking about many more dead,’ Fasci said.
The trouble started Monday night when one of the half-dozen gangs that are normally kept apart inside the prison protested.
The protest died down, but early Tuesday morning fighting broke out and a prisoner was killed and his body burned, Fasci said.
Officers eventually opened fire on the prisoners amid fears they were about to execute more people. Outside the jail riot officers had to hold back loved ones of the inmates
Distraught relatives of those inside the jail protested outside the facility on Tuesday
Police say they are now investigating how many people were killed by officers, and how many died during the riot (pictured, relatives of the prisoners are overcome with grief)
Police say the death toll is due to rise after eight were left badly wounded during the shooting
When police first went in trying to take control they were met by about 150 prisoners who attacked them with metal tools and rubble from work that was being carried out inside the prison.
No guards were killed in the violence, but a police officer was gravely wounded with a punctured lung.
‘It is 4,000 inmates against 300 guards’, Fasci said, adding the facility was not designed to contain that number of inmates, or dangerous prisoners.
‘It’s very difficult to keep them in order,’ he said.
He said autopsies would be required to determine how many were killed by other inmates and how many by authorities.
At least two appeared to have died from bullet wounds.
In March, four inmates in the same prison died after they took control of a prison pharmacy and apparently overdosed.
In another prison in Nuevo Leon, 49 prisoners died when two factions of the Zetas cartel clashed in February 2016.