Prison Riot In Mexico Leaves 13 Dead and 65 Injured

A prison riot in Mexico left 13 dead and 65 injured when rival prisoners squared off in a cell block just before daybreak.

The riot took place on Saturday in the central Mexican state of San Luis Potosi, sparking just after 4:30 am in a cell block.

Though officials at La Pila prison had regained control by the morning, the prison riot left 13 dead as close to 100 prisoners fought with makeshift knives and fists. It wasn’t immediately clear if all of those killed were prisoners or if any prison officials were included.

Concepcion Tovar, head of the state’s prison system, said the deadly riot was the work of a prison gang that had been harassing and robbing other inmates.

Prison officials held back on blaming drug gangs, who have waged widescale turf battles that have resulted in thousands of killings in Mexico in recent years.