There are at least 52 dead during a riot in Brazil: 16 victims were beheaded

At least 52 prisoners died Monday in riot in prison in the city of Altamira, in the Brazilian state of Pará (north), local authorities reported. Sixteen of the victims were beheaded.

"It was a confrontation between rival gangs, two prison guards were taken hostage, but have already been released," he told reporters. AFP a spokesman for the Prison Superintendency of Pará.

The rebellion began around 7 am and ended before noon. The conflict began when members of a wreath invaded the pavilion where are housed the prisoners of a rival gang.

In late May, 55 inmates died in two days of clashes in several prisons in the state of Amazonas, a neighbor of Pará.

A wave of clashes shook the country in early 2017, attributed to gang rivalry for control of cocaine trafficking routes.

Brazil, with 727,000 inmates, has the third largest prison population in the world, with only 368,000.

News in development being updated.