One inmate was killed and nineteen injured on Monday when a riot broke out in a penitentiary in the south-east Colombian city of Cali.
The riot took place in the early hours of Monday morning in the fourth block of the Villahermosa penitentiary, where several members of the guerrilla group FARC are detained, as well as other criminals.
According to a report by Colombia’s National Prison Institute, it is suspected that the conflict was the result of an ongoing power struggle between inmates, including ex-guerrillas and common criminals.
The report states that some of the detainees had acquired firearms and were using them against other prisoners, while others were setting fire to mattresses and clothes within the cells.
Of the nineteen injured inmates, five are currently being treated for bullet wounds to the chest and abdomen, two of whom are undergoing surgery. The remaining injured parties are being treated in the prison infirmary.
An investigation will be held to find out how the prisoners came into possession of the firearms.
