At least 28 killed in brutal gang fight in Mexican prison

Official says at least 28 inmates killed and several wounded after 'feud between rival groups' in Acapulco prison.

Mexico City, July 7: At least 28 prisoners were killed in a riot between the suspected members of rival gangs in Acapulco prison in Mexican state of Guerrero, officials said.

Guerrero government on Thursday updated the toll from original five to 28 as police searched the prison. Three other prisoners sustained mild injuries, Xinhua news agency reported.

At a press conference, Guerrero's security spokesperson, Roberto Alvarez Heredia, said that the fight began around 4 a.m. in Las Cruces prison in Acupalco.

Officials said the gang-related brawl began around 4am and left dozens of people dead, with up to four inmates brutally decapitated.

Bodies were discovered throughout the Guerrero state prison grounds, including a kitchen, a cellblock and other areas of the facilit

The prison, where the riot broke out, is the most crowded in Guerrero, with 2,100 prisoners, according to Mexican government statistics.

Acapulco, a resort town on Mexico's Pacific coast, has been hit by grisly violence between warring drug cartels in recent years. It is the biggest city in Guerrero, one of Mexico's most lawless states and a centre of opium poppy production.

The killings in Acapulco are the latest example of an upsurge in violent crime that has turned 2017 into one of the bloodiest years in the country's modern history.

Acapulco was once a playground for Hollywood stars. However, in recent years it has been roiled by vicious gang warfare, and is now ranked one of the most murderous cities in the world.

IANS