(CNN) — At least 33 inmates are dead following a prison riot in northern Brazil on Friday, state-run media agency Agencia Brasil reported. It was just the latest incident in a string of violence in the country’s prisons, where more than 110 inmates have died in the past three months.
Friday’s riot took place at the Agricultural Penitentiary of Monte Cristo, in Brazil’s Roraima state in the Amazon.
The rioting in the prison began early Friday and military police officers entered the prison to bring the situation under control, according to Agencia Brasil.
In October, 25 people were killed at a riot at the same prison.
The latest incident follows a prison riot that occurred last Sunday, where 56 prisoners were killed during a 17-hour uprising at the Anisio Jobim Prison Complex in the city of Manaus. Officials also said 112 inmates escaped during the melee.
That prison was built to hold about 600 inmates, but state media said there were more than 1,200 prisoners jailed inside.
Calling Sunday’s riot “the biggest prison massacre in our state’s history,” Public Security Secretary Sergio Fontes said many of the dead had been beheaded, in what officials said was a riot started by rival gangs.
With all three incidents combined, at least 114 prisoners have died in Brazil’s prisons since October’s riot.
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