At least 31 inmates have been killed at a prison in Brazil in what is believed to be a revenge attack. Many were decapitated, with their hearts cut out.<br /><br /> Initially said to be 33, the death toll was later revised down.<br /><br /> The deaths in Monte Cristo Rural Penitentiary in the northern state of Roraima are being blamed on a drug gang, which is said to have been targeted in a separate prison massacre that killed 56 five days earlier.<br /><br /> The 17-hour riot in Manaus has been labelled the deadliest prison uprising in Brazil in years. Some 87 prisoners escaped. Forty have since been recaptured, officials say.<br /><br /> Brazil’s Justice Minister, Alexandre de Moraes, said:<br />“The situation isn’t out of control. It is yet another difficult situation. There had already been problems at Roraima before, which happened during the second half of last year.”<br /><br /> He attributed the attack to members of the First Capital Command gang, who are, authorities say, trying to prove their power within Roraima’s Monte Cristo prison.<br /><br /> State officials said elite forces brought the situation under control.<br /><br /> Brazilian newspaper O Globo reports the Roraima prison was housing over 1,400 prisoners, which is double its capacity.<br /><br /> Riots in the jail are nothing new. At least ten people died in violence last October alone.<br /><br /> The Brazilian government announced a security overhaul plan for prisons on Thursday (January 5). Five new, high-security jails are outlined in the plan.<br />
