Prisoners beheaded in Brazil jail riot

Three prisoners have been beheaded and at least five other people injured in a riot that erupted in a southern Brazilian prison, authorities said.

Inmates of the prison in the city of Cascavel took at least two agents and several other inmates hostage in the unrest, said military police Captain Ricardo Pinto on Sunday.

He said negotiations for better conditions in the prison were still under way 12 hours later.

Prisoners set some objects on fire and were using metal poles to cause damage to the 928-bed prison that housed more than 1,000 inmates at the time.

Authorities initially reported that two men were decapitated, but later learned of a third prisoner who was killed the same way. The three men were not identified.

The revolt began before sunrise when a prison guard was captured during breakfast, Pinto said.

Dozens of the prisoners climbed onto the building's rooftop, with their faces covered with white fabric.

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