Special Operations Battalion Police officers enter the Alcacuz prison amid tension between rival gangs in Nisia Floresta, near Natal, Brazil, Saturday, Jan. 21, 2017.Military police took control of the prison in northeastern Brazil after fighting between rival gangs left 26 inmates dead, the latest in a spate of violence in the country's penitentiaries. Tensions at the Alcacuz prison outside the city of Natal remained high a day after inmates from rival gangs fought in the yard and set up doors and mattresses as barriers. The unrest was the latest in a spate of violence in the country's penitentiaries, in which at least 126 people have been killed since the beginning of the year. Military police were only able to restore some semblance of control at Alcacuz on Saturday, and they are now separating rival gangs within the prison by building a wall of shipping containers. But Col. Andre Azevedo, general commander of the Military Police in Rio Grande do Norte state, painted a bleak picture of the situation inside, saying that the entire system had broken down and maintaining control would be an ongoing battle.
Brazilian police enter the Alcacuz prison outside the city of Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, after a week of fighting leaves 26 inmates dead. At least 126 people have been killed in Brazil's prisons since the beginning of the year.