23 Die in Mexico Prison Brawl

23 inmates were killed and several others were injured during a brawl at a prison in Durango Mexico. Prison authorities said the fight was between inmates.

Prison Spokeswoman Carla Puente reported that 23 inmates were killed during a fight between prison inmates at the state prison in Durango, Mexico on Wednesday. She did not know the specific number of injuries nor the reason for the fight. The brawl was eventually broken up by prison guards. In the past two years more than 60 inmates have died during fights in Mexico's overcrowded and poorly run prisons. The state run prisons complain that they are not equipped to contend with violent criminals who are being held on federal charges. This was not the first fight in Durango either in late August of last year a number of inmates facing drug charges started a fight that resulted in 19 inmates dead and over 20 injured. October 2008 saw the death of 21 prisoners in a fight between inmates in the border city of Reynosa, across the boarder from McAllen, Texas. In September of 2008, two riots at the state prison in Tijuana killed at least 23 people, which included two Americans.