Mass Prison Break Attempt Results in 21 Deaths in Pará

04/11/2018 - 10h44

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MOISÉS SARRAF

FROM BELÉM

GUILHERME SETO

FROM SÃO PAULO

At least 21 people died on Tuesday (10) afternoon, during a mass prison escape attempt from an overcrowded penitentiary in the State of Pará, classified as vulnerable by an external inspection.

The confirmed dead include 15 inmates and 5 criminals who intended to rescue them by means of an invasion to the Penitentiary Recovery Center of Pará, in Santa Izabel Complex, metropolitan area of Belém. A guard was also killed, and four were injured, one of them is in serious conditions.

According to Susipe (Oversight Body of the Penitentiary System of Pará), it was a coordinated action.

A group of prisoners started an uprising, while criminals outside staged an invasion to rescue them from the complex which borders highway BR-316.

Six guards were taken hostage and there was a confrontation with the police responsible for internal security.

Outside the prison, a group used explosives against one of the walls of Pavilion C.

The event occurred in a week tainted by violence in Grande Belém, including 12 people killed within a period of five hours.

Celso Rodrigues/Diário do Pará/Folhapress Penitentiary Recovery Center of Pará, in Santa Izabel Complex

WALL

The penitentiary complex targeted by the attempted breakout had been inspected by the CNJ (National Justice Council). The body issued a report in February stating mass escapes were frequent, indicating a series of vulnerabilities and demanding security measures.

The body urgently requested the construction of a wall to isolate the unit and demanded a solution to ease overcrowding.

Translated by ANA BEATRIZ DEMARIA

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