At least 1,350 prisoners escaped on Monday from three prisons in the Brazilian state of Sao Paulo, the country’s most populous, after a series of riots motivated by restrictions on visits and temporary exits due to the coronavirus combat, authorities reported.

The Militarized Police (PM) of Sao Paulo indicated that at least 400 prisoners escaped from Mongaguá, on the state coast; another 926, which were mostly in a semi-open regime, in Mirandópolis, interior of the state, and another thirty from Taubaté, in the region known as Vale do Paraíba.

According to the information, riots are reported in these and other prison centers with a number of hostages not yet reported.

The rebellions were motivated by restrictions on the temporary visits and exits of prisoners taken between measures to control the spread of the coronavirus.