30 inmates escape Mexican jail amid fight

PanARMENIAN.Net - At least 30 inmates escaped from the jail in the northern Mexican town of Apodaca during the fight that claimed 44 lives, the authorities said Monday, February 20, M&C reported citing DPA.

Forty-four inmates died at the Apodaca jail Sunday, in a clash between members of the Gulf cartel and the gang Los Zetas that were held at the facility.

Nuevo Leon state authorities have offered some 840,000 dollars for information that leads to the escapees' arrests.

During the clash, inmates started a small fire and the reportedly used makeshift weapons including pipes, sticks, bricks and CDs to beat their rivals. Jorge Domene, spokesman for Nuevo Leon state public security, said prisoners from one cell block obtained access to another area to attack the inmates there.

Fourteen inmates had died in May in a fire at the same jail, some 30 kilometres away from Nuevo Leon capital Monterrey. The facility holds about 3,000 inmates, although it was built with a capacity for only 1,500.

Clashes between rival gangs are relatively common in Mexican jails and reportedly killed 124 people last year.

Last week, over 350 inmates were killed at a jail in Honduras in a fire whose causes are being investigated.