Story highlights Inmate Hugo Pinell, 71, was killed in a prison riot

He had been sentenced to life with parole three times

(CNN) What started as a fight at a California state prison Wednesday ended in riot that left an inmate dead and five others hospitalized with stab wounds, officials said.

Prisoners began fighting in a maximum-security area at the California State Prison-Sacramento just before 1 p.m. Wednesday (4 p.m. ET). At least 100 inmates were involved, California Corrections spokeswoman Dana Simas said. No staff were injured.

Hugo Pinell, 71 -- part of a group of inmates once known as the "San Quentin Six" for their alleged role in a 1971 prison escape attempt -- was killed in the fighting, officials said.

He had been sentenced to life with parole three times: for rape with force in 1965, for killing a corrections officer at a training facility in 1971 and for violently assaulting two corrections officers during an escape attempt at San Quentin State Prison that same year, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said.