No fewer than 23 detainees have been reportedly killed in a mutiny in police cells in Western Venezuela.
This was tweeted on Friday by the NGO Venezuelan Observatory of Prisons.
A prisoners’ rights advocacy group disclosed that the mutiny occurred in the Portuguesa state of Acarigua.
El Nacional daily also reported that 14 prison officials were injured in the incident at a police coordination centre on Friday morning.
There was a shoot-out and grenade explosions, journalist Daniel Colina tweeted.
A video posted on social media shows a masked, gun-wielding inmate with two female visitors to the cells. He says he is “ready to die,” while one of the women calls for “dialogue.”
Injured victims were believed to have been taken to a local hospital, where a heavy presence of security forces was observed, according to broadcaster NTN24.
NAN