BOGOTÁ, Colombia — At least 23 inmates died in clashes with prison authorities over the weekend after what prisoners described as protests against officials for not doing enough to control the spread of coronavirus.

The protests erupted in 13 penitentiaries across Colombia. The deadly clashes were in La Modelo prison in the capital, Bogotá, and officials described the riots as an effort by inmates to escape.

The country’s justice minister, Margarita Cabello, announced the deaths in a video address on Sunday morning, saying that the riots were part of a “massive and criminal escape attempt” that authorities had thwarted, and that there was “no sanitation problem” in the prison.