SIXTY EIGHT KILLED IN VENEZUELAN POLICE STATION RIOT AND FIRE
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| Distraught relatives waiting for information |
Rioting and a fire in the cells of a
Venezuelan police station in the central city of Valencia killed 68 people on
Wednesday, according to the government and witnesses.
Families
hoping for news outside the police station were dispersed with tear gas and
authorities did not give information until late into the evening.
“The State
Prosecutor’s Office guarantees to deepen investigations to immediately clarify
what happened in these painful events that have left dozens of Venezuelan
families in mourning,” said Chief Prosecutor Tarek William Saab on Twitter.
Venezuelan
prisons are notoriously overcrowded and filled with weapons and drugs. Riots
leaving dozens dead are not uncommon.
State
official Jesus Santander said the state of Carabobo was in mourning after the
incident in the city of Valencia.
“Forensic
doctors are determining the number of fatalities,” Santander said. A policeman
was shot in the leg and was in a stable condition and firefighters had
extinguished the flames, he said.
Many
Venezuelan prisons are lawless and have been for decades. Prisoners often
openly wield machine guns and grenades, use drugs and leave guards powerless.
“There are people who are inside those
dungeons (...) and the authorities do not know they exist because they do not
dare to enter,” said Humberto Prado, a local prisons rights activist.
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