At least 21 dead, dozens injured in Reynosa prison riot

REYNOSA - At least 21 inmates were killed and dozens were left wounded after a confrontation between two rival groups turned into a flame-enveloped massacre at the state prison here early Monday morning, officials said.

Details on exactly how the riot broke out remained unclear Monday afternoon as paramedics continued to carry out injured inmates on stretchers from a gate on the prison's north side.

Tamaulipas State Police sources confirmed Monday night that the rioters fought with knives and guns before setting fires with gasoline and matches before dawn Monday, adding that there were charred bodies among the dead. An estimated 21 inmates were killed.

After word spread about the riot, hundreds of people gathered outside the prison gates throughout the day, frantically trying to gather any information about their imprisoned relatives.

But the authorities offered no information as rumors about the carnage flowed about the crowd.

Without any official word, impatience turned to desperation as some people threw bottles over the prison's concrete walls and wailed at the solid metal gate, demanding answers.

"I'm not finding anything," Marieta Desarviso said in Spanish, adding that her son and nephew were inmates inside. As the tears welled in her eyes, she said she hopes the authorities could restore control and keep her family safe.

"They are not letting us see them," Minerva Flores said of her two sons and grandson in Spanish, her voice trembling.

By Monday night, prison officials had reportedly begun announcing the names of the deceased to the crowds that lingered outside.

The violence broke out about 3 a.m. Monday between two groups of inmates in a northern sector of the prison grounds, according to a statement from Pedro Benavides Benavides, who heads the prison's operations.

After the chaos, federal and state police officers along with Mexican soldiers were brought in to restore order.

In addition to the 21 dead, dozens of other injured men were transported to Reynosa General Hospital, where policemen armed with machine guns guarded the emergency room entrance.

Many of the wounded inmates were covered in dried blood and bandages with what appeared to be blunt force injuries and stab wounds.

Local Reynosa media featured bloody photos on the front page of afternoon newspapers and claimed that at least 20 inmates lost their lives in the massacre, while more than 30 suffered serious injuries.

Local, state and federal authorities continued to investigate the scene Monday night. State authorities suspended the prison director and guards pending an investigation, the Associated Press reported late Monday night.

Last month, two riots at La Mesa state prison in the border city of Tijuana, across from San Diego, Calif., killed at least 23 people, including two inmates from the United States, The Associated Press reported. Prisoners there argued that officials weren't giving them food and water, but prison officials blamed troublemakers for the violence.

Located on Reynosa's southern outskirts, the Cereso Dos state prison where the riot broke out is reportedly overcrowded by several hundred inmates.

On Monday, the injured inmates were slowly taken out and loaded into ambulances amid the masses of desperate onlookers, many of whom first learned of their relatives' traumas when they saw the wounded rolling out on stretchers.

"That's my husband! That's my husband!" screamed a woman in Spanish who said she was the wife of an injured inmate wheeled out on stretcher. She pleaded with police let her ride along in the ambulance, but they refused.

So the woman ran off as her frantic wails echoed. She gathered her relatives and took off after the ambulance as it slowly made its way from the prison.

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Jared Taylor covers law enforcement and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4439.