Fresh prison riot kills eight inmates in northwestern Brazil

At least eight inmates have been killed in a fresh prison riot in Brazil a day after violent clashes between two rival gangs in another jail left more than two dozen detainees dead.

Local police sources said that the riot broke out at a jail in the northwestern state of Rondonia on Monday. 

"There are thought to be eight people dead but the bodies are burnt and the medical authorities will have to confirm" the toll, a local police spokesman said.

It has been the latest episode of violence shaking the country's overcrowded and underfunded prison system.

On Sunday, fierce clashes between two rival factions in a prison in northern Brazil left 25 inmates dead. The bloodshed occurred during visiting hours at Agricola de Monte Cristo prison in Boa Vista, the capital city of Roraima State.

Local police said clashes erupted when inmates of one wing broke into another wing.

Several of the prisoners were decapitated and burned to death by rival inmates wielding knives and bats.

Nearly 100 relatives of prisoners were briefly held hostage who were later released by police forces.

SS