21 Are Injured in Guatemalan Prison Attack
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FRAIJANES, Guatemala — Twelve police officers, at least eight prisoners and a 7-year-old boy were injured Friday in a Guatemalan prison where two members of a criminal gang are scheduled to be executed next week.
While attempting to search inmate quarters at El Pavon prison outside Guatemala City, police were beaten and attacked with machetes, said Angel Conte, director of the nation’s penitentiary system.
Television showed black-clad riot police firing tear gas canisters into the medium-security facility over three barbed wire security fences. Inmates in bloodstained clothes were shown being carried to ambulances.
Conte said the child entered the prison Wednesday to visit his father, who is an inmate. He did not know why the child remained inside.
Many Guatemalans fear for their safety amid growing crime in the Central American nation.
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