SAO PAULO, Brazil, (Reuters):
PRISONERS ENDED a rebellion on Wednesday in a remote Urso Branco prison in Brazil's Amazon and released unharmed nearly 200 visitors that they had taken hostage on Christmas Day, officials said.
Inmates at the Urso Branco penitentiary in Rondonia state released the visitors, mostly women, and ended a riot after authorities promised to meet some demands, Dalton Di Franco, spokesman for the Security Secretariat of Rondonia, said.
NO INJURIES
"All of the hostages have been released without any apparent injuries and the prisoners are now all gathering in a courtyard inside Urso Branco. Everything is under control," Di Franco said.
The gang leading the uprising, which started when family and friends were visiting on Christmas Day, demanded the return of its leader, Ednildo Paula Souza, to the prison.
He escaped two weeks ago but was caught and moved to another penitentiary.
"Souza is being held at a nearby jail. When the police have conducted a review of the prison and the men are back in their cells, we will consider his return to Urso Branco," Di Franco told Reuters by phone.
Firemen and emergency medical teams are waiting at the prison - 1,920 miles (3,070 km) from Sao Paulo, but it was still not clear if there were serious injuries or killings among the inmates, as is often the case during riots.
Local media, citing leaders of the rebellion as sources, said as many as 17 inmates have been killed during the riot, but police could not confirm this.
"The inspection by the police will continue into the night. A count of the dead or injured is unlikely for sometime, if there are any," Di Franco said.
Urso Branco is considered one of the most violent jails in Brazil, which has a long history of bloody prison uprisings. It holds 950 inmates in a space that is meant for about half as many.
In April last year, about 15 people were killed in a week-long uprising at Urso Branco. Gruesome photos captured a band of inmates brandishing and tossing severed heads and limbs from the top of prison towers.
About 200 police are involved in bringing the prison back under control.
