7 dead, 59 escape in Mexico prison fight near US

[July 16, 2011]  CIUDAD VICTORIA, Mexico (AP) -- Fighting among inmates in a Mexican prison near the U.S. border killed seven prisoners and allowed at least 59 others to escape, police said Friday.

Tamaulipas state officials said five prison guards abandoned their posts during the clash at a prison in Nuevo Laredo, a city across the border from Laredo, Texas.

Officials said that the situation inside the prison, which houses some 1,200 inmates, was under control by Friday afternoon.

Police reinforcements were being sent to the area to look for the fugitives, officials said. At least 35 of the escaped prisoners faced federal criminal prosecutions, authorities said.

Police also were searching for the guards who fled.

Tamaulipas is one of the states most affected by drug violence and has faced prison problems such as escapes in recent years.

[Associated Press]

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