RIO DE JANEIRO -- Prisoners at an overcrowded prison in southern Brazil rioted on Tuesday and were threatening to throw several hostages from the roof.
Television images showed swarms of inmates at the Parana state prison in Londrina clambering across the rooftop, dragging several hostages with bound wrists and dangling them off the edge.
The G1 Internet portal of the Globo television network quotes police as saying prisoners are holding around five hostages, all inmates. Calls to police in Parana went unanswered.
The report says that better food and improved conditions are among the inmates' demands. Authorities and rioters were in talks aimed at ending the mutiny.
Prison riots are a regular occurrence in Brazil, which has been repeatedly accused by human rights activists of allowing rampant overcrowding and degrading conditions in its prisons.
The G1 report says 1,140 inmates are held at the Londrina prison, which was designed for 928.
