Families wait to ID bodies decapitated during Brazilian prison riot that left 58 inmates dead
- In many of Brazil’s prisons, badly outnumbered guards struggle to retain power over an ever growing population of inmates
- Authorities have not yet revealed the exact cause of the latest violence in Altamira, only confirming it was a fight between criminal groups
Forensic experts in the Brazilian city of Altamira where 58 inmates were killed in a bloody prison riot said they had identified 17 bodies so far, with relatives facing the grim task of identifying sometimes decapitated corpses.
Only 15 of the bodies had been released to family members by late on Tuesday. Workers at the coroner’s office said they were slowed by the size of the facility as well as problems with lighting that meant they had to stop working at 6.30pm. In the Amazon heat, the bodies were being kept in a large refrigerated truck.
As the slow process of identifying the bodies from Monday’s clash between rival gangs members at Altamira prison advanced, dozens of frustrated family members spent the day waiting outside the city’s forensic institute.
There, forensic expert Marcel Ferreira described the anxiety among the waiting relatives and said some passed out when called on to identify the bodies of beheaded loved ones. Sixteen of the dead inmates had been decapitated.
In a bid to prevent further violence at Altamira in Para state, authorities began transferring all 46 inmates accused of being involved in the violence to other prisons, including stricter federal ones. Local authorities confirmed by late Tuesday at least 33 inmates had been moved to the state capital of Belem, from where they would be sent to other jails.