A riot broke out at a prison in Veracruz state, eastern Mexico, where inmates set fires and attacked each other, resulting in at least seven inmates dead and another eleven injured. Social media videos show thick smoke billowing from the prison and inmates with burn injuries.
Prison Fills with Smoke, Riot Lasts 12 Hours
The scene was at a prison in Tuxpan. The criminal group "Shadow" had reportedly been extorting inmates and their families within the facility for a long time, sparking the unrest. On Saturday afternoon, inmates belonging to different gangs clashed, some set fires, and they controlled the prison for about 12 hours.
By Sunday morning, state authorities had deployed multiple departments to carry out a joint operation, extinguished the fire, and restored order in the prison.
In a statement, the National Security Department said: "This riot has unfortunately resulted in seven inmate deaths and 11 injuries."
After the riot, three inmates were transferred to another prison in Veracruz state.
Overcrowding Leads to Frequent Clashes
Mexican prisons are severely overcrowded. According to the latest official data, as of June, Tuxpan Prison held 778 inmates, but its design capacity is only 735.
Conflicts between criminal groups are frequent in prisons. Last month, a riot at a prison in the northwestern state of Sinaloa left three inmates dead.
According to Mexico's National Institute of Statistics and Geography, there were 3,094 violent incidents in Mexican prisons in 2023, resulting in 100 deaths and 892 injuries.