9 dead, 10 injured after shooting inside prison in northern Mexico

9 dead, 10 injured after shooting inside prison in northern Mexico

2011-05-20 01:11:49 GMT+7 (ICT)

DURANGO, MEXICO (BNO NEWS) -- Mexican authorities on Thursday announced that nine prisoners died after a shooting inside a Durango prison in northern Mexico, El Universal newspaper reported.

On Wednesday afternoon, a fright broke out inside the "Centro de Reinserción Social No. 1" (Cereso) in Durango city. Moments later, gun shots were hear which activated a high alarm in the detention facility.

Initially, it was reported that eight prisoners were killed and 11 injured after the fighting. However, in the early hours of Thursday another individual died due to the severe wounds sustained.

Authorities have launched an investigation in the incident and to determine how the firearms were introduced to the prison. After the gunfight, law agents seized ten firearms from the inmates.

The death toll might rise as the remaining ten injured prisoners are reported to be in delicate condition. State and Federal police are still in high alert due to the shooting and some agents were deployed to inside the Cereso prison.

Durango has been on the spotlight due to the many bodies' found in mass graves. So farm authorities have unearthed 96 bodies in the capital only, and 209 throughout the state.

Local legislators and business leaders have harshly criticized the lack of preventive security measures on behalf of federal and state authorities while they continue excavating different areas of the state, which have been confirmed as mass grave sites.

It is believed that the victims were people who refused to enlist within the ranks of 'Los Zetas' drug cartel. In the nearby Tamaulipas state, 183 bodies have been unearthed from mass graves in San Fernando municipality.

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