Associated Press
SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic — Officials in the Dominican Republic say a riot broke out in one of the country’s prisons when gang-affiliated inmates tried to take control of a cellblock.
Penitentiary security director Ismael Paniagua says 16 inmates belonging to the Nacion Los 42 gang were wounded by rubber bullets and blows as prisoners fought with guards inside the San Felipe prison in the northern province of Puerto Plata.
Dozens of inmates electrified their cell doors with wires during the melee in an area of the prison where six packages of drugs were seized in recent days.
Paniagua says that authorities retook control of the lockup on Wednesday following the late Tuesday riot.
Violence is common in the country’s overcrowded and understaffed prisons.