At least 68 people have died after a fire erupted at a Venezuelan police station during a riot, the country's attorney general said.
The BBC reports that the incident happened in the city of Valencia in the Carabobo state at the northern tip of the South American country.
According to the BBC, the blaze started after prisoners set fire to mattresses in an attempt to break out Wednesday, and police had to use tear gas to disperse relatives who surrounded the facility when news of the fire broke.
A Venezuelan watchdog group which monitors jail conditions said a police officer was shot in the leg by a detainee and that shortly afterward mattresses in cells were set ablaze and the fire quickly spread.
Rescuers reportedly broke through walls to try to free those trapped by the blaze. Some of the victims burned to death while others died from smoke inhalation.
Most of the dead were inmates, but at least two women who were visiting the prison at the time were also killed.
