May 28 (UPI) -- Nearly 60 people have been killed in rioting at four different Brazilian prisons, authorities said Tuesday.
The fighting is believed to have been started by rival drug gangs at the facilities in western Brazil. Marcos Vinicius, the head of Brazil's Amazonas state corrections system, said the unrest was started by "infighting among inmates." He added that no prison guards were hurt.
Brazil's Justice Ministry said it sent a task force Monday to support local officials. Authorities ultimately regained control of the prisons.
"[The reinforcements] will help us in this time of crisis to confront a problem that is a national one: the problems in our prisons," Amazonas Gov. Wilson Lima said in a statement.
Officials said they didn't know a motive for the riots, but acknowledged that 15 prisoners died Sunday and 42 Monday.
The Rio Times reported the riots occurred as the government cracked down on overcrowding at prisons where drug leaders ran operations from behind bars.
Rioting two years ago in Natal ultimately killed nearly 100 inmates.
