Mexico City – At least 12 people have been killed in an exchange of gunfire in a prison outside Panama City, police said on Tuesday.
Thirteen others were injured, two of them seriously, Panama’s deputy police chief Alexis Munoz told journalists.
The violence at the La Joyita prison, which faces overcrowding and alleged systematic abuses against inmates, was apparently related to rivalry between gangs inside the facility.
Several weapons were confiscated, including assault rifles, local media reported.
Rioting in penal institutions is not uncommon in Latin America.
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