91 Prisoners Escape From Jail in Brazil

Brazilian authorities have confirmed that 91 prisoners escaped from a jail in Parnamirim city in the north east of the country.

According to the authorities, the prisoners escaped by crawling through a 30-metre tunnel.

This has been the second incident of prisoners escaping in the past few months.

Back in January of this year, a massive prison riot at the Alcacuz jail, also in the north east of the country, left 26 inmates dead and allowed 56 to escape.

Just like the prisoners in Parnamirim prison, the prisoners in Alcacuz jail dug tunnels under the prison which they then used to escape.

There has been a substantial increase in prison violence in Brazil since the start of the year.

Most prisons are severely overcrowded and dilapidated. This has proved to contribute to the increase in riots and violence within the prison walls.

Reports have shown that Brazil has the world’s fourth largest prison population, with 622 000 inmates registered by the Brazilian Ministry of Justice in 2014. Prisons all across the country are struggling with capacity and in some instances, have had to double their intake of inmates.

Reports from Brazilian judiciary services have suggested that Brazilian prisons are at 167% capacity.

Parnamirim prison is massively overcrowded, currently housing 589 inmates despite being designed to house only 382 inmates.

The increase in crime in the north eastern part of Brazil is largely due to the fact that the region borders on Peru and Colombia. The route between the three South American countries is popular with drug lords trafficking cocaine to Europe the US.