At least 49 prisoners were killed and dozens wounded, at dawn on Monday, during an attempt to escape from a prison in southwestern Colombia, an official told AFP.
A spokesman for the Colombian Prisons Directorate said: “There are 49 dead so far,” explaining that “the toll is preliminary and may rise.”
It is not yet known what caused the mass riots in the prison, which is located in the city of Toloa, and houses about 1,300 prisoners, according to the head of the Prisons Agency of Colombia.
Prisons in South American countries are famous for their ferocity and the high number of murders inside them, and Colombia itself had recorded 23 deaths in a prison in Bogota, after riots amid the Corona pandemic.
As for Colombian President Ivan Duque, who is currently visiting Portugal, he confirmed through his official account that he will open an investigation into the case to understand the events of the “tragic situation.”
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