OVER 100 INMATES ON THE LAM AFTER PRISON RIOTS

Brazilian authorities said Tuesday that the inmates responsible for the killings of 56 rivals at a prison in the Amazon will be transferred to high security federal institutions in addition to being prosecuted. Many of those slain were beheaded or dismembered in the worst bloodshed at a Brazilian prison since 1992.

Three other prisons in the state of Amazonas also saw riots Sunday and Monday. In total, 60 inmates died and 184 escaped. Only 48 were recaptured, according to the local police.

Amazonas Gov. Jose Melo said the transfers to federal prisons are likely to focus on members of local Family of the North gang that attacked those of Sao Paulo-based First Command, Brazil’s biggest criminal organization.

“They are fighting for space outside the prisons, and this time it was inside the penitentiary,” Melo said after meeting federal authorities.

The Anisio Jobim Penitentiary Complex in Manaus held 1,224 inmates when the riot began, although it is designed for only 592, the state public security office said. The prison is run by a private company that is paid according to the number of inmates.

The incident was the most deadly in a Brazilian prison since at least 111 inmates were killed by police forces during a 1992 riot at the Carandiru prison in Sao Paulo.