Crime Time

83 die in riot-induced fire at overcrowded Chile prison

A riot inside an overcrowded Chilean prison Wednesday turned deadly when a fire broke out, killing at least 83 inmates and injuring 14 others, the Associated Press reported.

Jaime Manalich, Chile's health minister, said the fire was an "enormous calamity," and said the incident was "probably the worst in the history of our penitentiary system."

Chile's President Sebastian Pinera visited inmates being treated for severe burns and smoke inhalation and said "the conditions that existed inside this prison are absolutely inhumane," the AP reported.

-- Lance Murray

4 men stabbed in California prison brawl

Four men were sent to the hospital with stab wounds following a brawl that broke out inside a California prison.

About a dozen inmates were involved in the fight at the California Rehabilitation Center in Norco.  Although seriously injured, the four men are expected to survive, the Associated Press reported.

-- Lance Murray

Mexican prison brawl leaves 23 dead, others injured

A prison brawl in the northern Mexican city of Durango has left 23 people dead and several others injured, according to reports.

The state prison houses 2,025 inmates.  A prison spokeswoman could not say what started the brawl or how many inmates had been injured, the Associated Press reported.

-- Lance Murray

At least 20 prisoners die in Juarez prison gang riot

There are reports that at least 20 prisoners have died in a fight between gangs at a state prison in Juarez, Mexico, already one of the deadliest cities in the world because of drug cartel violence on its streets.

Thirty other prisoners were injured in the riot that began after 6 a.m. Wednesday. Investigators are looking into how a gun was entered into the prison. The fight broke out as visitors were leaving the prison following a night of conjugal visits, authorities said.

You can read more here, at the El Paso Times.

-- Lance Murray

Mineral Wells prison is on lockdown

Special reponse teams from Mineral Wells and neighboring facilities were brought in Monday night to quell a disturbance at a private prison in that city. Two employees of Corrections Corp. of America's Mineral Wells Pre-Parole Transfer Facility were treated for minor injuries in the disturbance that included about two dozen inmates who refused to cooperate, threw rocks and broke glass. Right now, the facility is on lockdown.

-- Lance Murray