Relatives of prisoners await for news at a checkpoint close to the Roraima state's largest penitentiary where around 33 people were killed during a riot, Roraima, Brazil, January 6, 2017. REUTERS/JPavani
RIO DE JANEIRO/SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Jailed members of Brazil's most powerful drug gang killed 31 inmates at a penitentiary on Friday, decapitating and cutting out the hearts of most of them, in revenge for a separate prison massacre that left 56 dead this week.
The bloodletting in the Monte Cristo prison in the Amazonian state of Roraima, carried out by members of the First Capital Command (PCC) gang, sparked fears that months of violence between criminal groups controlling Brazil's prisons had spiralled out of control.
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