Prison inmates take 67 hostages in Argentina

At least eight people have died during a prison riot in the city of Cordoba as hundreds of inmates held 20 guards and 42 other people hostage and threatened to throw some of them off the roof, officials said early yesterday.

Police said five inmates, two prison guards and one police officer had been killed in the rioting so far in Cordoba's maximum-security prison of San Martin, 700 kilometers (435 miles) northwest of here.

Unconfirmed television reports put the casualty toll since the riot began Thursday afternoon at nine dead and 30 injured, including nine police officers.

More than 1,000 police and army troops joined by inmates' relatives surrounded the facility as officials negotiated with riot leaders who are demanding reduced sentences and improved living conditions.

Television images showed dozens of armed inmates atop the prison roof threatening to throw some wardens to the pavement below. One guard, stripped to the waist, was being held as knives sliced across his arms and legs. Smoke was billowing from inside the jail.

Provincial Penitentiary Service director Graciela Lucientes de Funes told reporters the convicts were also threatening to slash the throat of prison Warden Emilio Corso.

Cordoba Province Police Chief Jorge Rodriguez said early Friday that in addition to Corso, the hostages included 25 prison guards and 50 people, mostly women and children, who were visiting the prison when the riot broke out.

But 13 hostages were later released, including five prison guards, five women and three children, authorities said. That would leave 62 hostages inside the prison.