Life 57 dead in a Brazil prison riot By WeeklyNews staff Posted on July 30, 2019 1 min read Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Google+ At least 57 detainees have been died in an accident in a prison in the municipality of Altamira in the state of Pará in northern Brazil. The authorities reported this on Monday (local time). The death toll was previously at 52. Sixteen of the prisoners killed were beheaded. According to the police, the uproar arose when two criminal gangs in prison got into a fight with each other. A number of prisoners died as a result of suffocation. This happened after a fire was started in the detention center during the five-hour riot. During the riot, detainees took two prison guards hostage, but they were later found unharmed. It is the second major prison call rudder within two months. The Brazilian prisons are notorious because they are often overcrowded and the facilities are poor.