Prison Fire Kills at Least 25 Inmates
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Rioting inmates started a fire that swept through a prison in the border city of Ciudad del Este, killing at least 25 people and injuring about 200, authorities in Paraguay said.
The fire started after a prisoner, in an apparent escape bid, attacked a guard with a homemade knife and the jailer shot and killed him, Paraguayan TV stations reported.
More than 500 inmates then began rioting, some setting mattresses on fire. The fire reportedly spread rapidly through the cellblocks, spewing clouds of black smoke that asphyxiated inmates, before firefighters put it out.
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