AT least 10 people, including a child visiting a family member, have been killed in a bloody prison riot in Mexico after inmates reportedly opened fire.
A routine visiting day descended into a scene of carnage on Thursday morning as violence erupted behind the walls of El Castillo Penitentiary in Mazatlan.
Nine prisoners and a young visitor were killed in the carnage, while another 16 inmates were rushed to hospital with injuries.
Sinaloa’s Secretary of Public Security, Sinuhe Tellez, confirmed the visitor was a minor.
Local media reported that inmates used guns during the deadly clashes, although authorities have yet to establish what sparked the violence.
Heavily armed security forces descended on the as officials scrambled to bring the bloodshed under control.
Military personnel, National Guard troops, naval forces and state were deployed to the facility, which houses around 1,800 inmates.
Mexico’s federal security cabinet later confirmed the prison was “under control”, with officers remaining at the scene.
Prison visits have been suspended as a precaution, while social workers are contacting the families of those killed.
Tellez said the remaining prisoners were safe following the deadly rampage.
Authorities have not revealed how many inmates were involved in the fighting or whether the bloodshed was linked to the brutal cartel war gripping Sinaloa.
The northwestern Mexican state has been torn apart by a vicious power struggle between rival factions of the notorious Sinaloa Cartel since September 2024.
The bitter feud pits the sons of jailed drug kingpin Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, known as Los Chapitos, against loyalists of imprisoned cartel boss Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada.
The escalating violence has turned Sinaloa into a deadly battleground, with the US State Department warning Americans against travelling to the state.
Thursday’s prison massacre comes just months after savage rebellion at a jail in Culiacan, Sinaloa’s capital, left seven inmates dead and another injured in May.
Mexico’s notoriously troubled prison system has long been plagued by overcrowding, corruption and deadly violence.
Experts have blamed packed cells and chronic staff shortages for fuelling the crisis, with thousands of suspects held behind bars without being convicted.
Official figures show ‘s prison population had reached 261,388 by February, spread across hundreds of correctional facilities.
The latest bloodshed also comes as Mexico faces mounting pressure from Donald Trump’s administration to crack down on the country’s powerful drug cartels.
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