25 slain as inmates set jail cell ablaze
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From Times Wire Reports
Rioting inmates rounded up rivals in a Brazilian jail cell and set fire to it, killing 25 prisoners.
The inmates took control of the jail before dawn in the small town of Ponte Nova in the eastern state of Minas Gerais, said police Lt. Andrea Amara Lopes.
Authorities who had been trying to negotiate an end to the rebellion doused the flames.
Brutal prison violence and rebellions are common in Brazil’s overcrowded lockups, where gangs often exert more control than their keepers and manage outside criminal enterprises using smuggled cellphones.
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