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At least 30 dead in Guatemala prison gang battles

Posted on: Monday, 15 August 2005, 17:43 CDT

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.

Source: REUTERS

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