At least 30 dead in Guatemala prison gang battles

ESCUINTLA, Guatemala (Reuters) – At least 30 inmates were
killed on Monday when rival Guatemalan gang members attacked
each other with knives, firearms and grenades at prisons
throughout the country, government officials said.

Around 80 prisoners were also injured in the fighting
between the Mara Salvatrucha and Mara 18 street gangs.

Witnesses saw emergency services carry the bodies of 18
inmates out of one of the prisons, dubbed by prisoners “The
Hole,” in the Escuintla province of southern Guatemala. Some of
the corpses were mutilated.

Many of the dead were killed by hand grenade blasts and
suffered knife and gunshot injuries, the government said.

Eight people were killed in the Pavon correctional facility
near Guatemala City and four more killed in two other prisons,
Francisco de la Pena, head of Guatemala’s prison service, told
a news conference.

It took hundreds of police and soldiers armed with
automatic weapons and firing tear gas several hours to regain
control of the prisons.

Street gangs, known as “maras,” are widespread in Central
America and are known for their use of extreme violence and for
a deadly feud between the two principal gangs.

Prison workers said Monday’s riots may have started
following the breakdown of a peace pact between the two gangs
in the prisons.