Six policemen killed in Mexico prison riot

Monitoring Desk

COATZACOALCOS: At least seven people including six policemen were killed in a prison riot in eastern Mexico on Sunday.

The state government told international news outlet that the inmates attacked the six police officers and locked them in an enclosed space and set it on fire and it killed six of the policemen

Officials added that the inmates attacked the Police when they were trying to transport a group of highly dangerous prisoners from the La Toma prison in Veracruz State.

A seventh person who has yet to be identified was also killed, it said.

Fifteen police officers were hospitalised with injuries. Seven inmates were also wounded in the riot, two of them seriously.

Army troops were sent into the prison to help state police bring the situation under control, the statement said.

Police in riot gear had set up a tight security cordon around the complex.

Mexico’s prisons are frequently hit by riots, killings and jailbreaks. Criminal gangs often hold de facto control inside, operating with the complicity of corrupt officials.