Rio de Janeiro — Brazilian President Michel Temer says the killing of 60 inmates in two Amazon prisons was a "dreadful accident" and he says public agencies have no clear responsibility because the prison where most of inmates died was run by a private company.
Speaking before a Cabinet meeting on Thursday, Brazil's president promised to build five prisons to address overcrowding.
Authorities of the state of Amazonas say the incidents began when local Family of the North gang attacked members of Sao Paulo-based First Command, Brazil's biggest criminal organization.
A man digs a grave for an inmate killed in a prison riot at the Parque Taruma cemetery in Manaus, Brazil. Forensic experts said that half the slain inmates were beheaded and several others were dismembered in the worst prison bloodshed in the South American country since 1992. Photo: Michael Dantas/AP
The two fight over the control of prisons and drug routes in northern Brazil.
Four prisons in Amazonas saw riots Sunday and Monday.