Holiday for minimum security prisoners is cancelled because of outbreak Hundreds of prisoners have escaped from four semi-open prisons in São Paulo state in the south-east of Brazil after Easter prison holidays were cancelled and restrictions on visitors tightened because of coronavirus Videos showed dozens of prisoners fleeing down a street near one coastal prison and flooding across a soccer pitch on a beach The São Paulo state penitentiary department said it had postponed the Easter prison break – one of five annual breaks for prisoners in semi-open regimeswho work in the day – because of coronavirus “The measure was necessary because the benefit would include more than 34,000 convicts of the semi-open regime who would have high potential to install and propagate coronavirus,” said a statement adding that semi-open prisons did not have armed guards Police and prison officer riot teams recovered control over the four prisons and recaptured 174 prisoners, it later said. The human rights news site Ponte estimated as many as 1,500 had escaped “These prisoners were unhappy about the decision that suspended the Easter leave,” said Lincoln Gakiya a prosecutor in São Paulo state and specialist in drug gangs “The prisoners were told and in some units The rebellions echoed the situation in Italy’s crowded prisons where 10 have died in riots following restrictions on visits from family members Other security specialists said anger over the treatment of leaders of Brazil’s biggest drug gang the São Paulo-based First Capital Command (PCC) Some prisoners have complained over the treatment of PCC leaders refusing to go to hearings in what is called a “white strike” director-president of the Brazilian Public Security Forum Others were angry over restrictions on visitors showing signs of colds or suspected of carrying coronavirus Eight guards were taken hostage in Mongaguá and there would have been many more if the state did not have a centrally controlled locking system Gruesomely violent prison riots and breakouts are common in Brazil’s overcrowded prisons, many of which are controlled by drug gangs like the PCC and its rivals – 57 people were killed last year in just one rebellion in Altamira in the Amazon did not have a health station in their prisons and nearly 9,000 prisoners were over 60 This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page undreds of prisoners broke out of four Brazilian jails on Monday the day before their day-release privileges were due to be suspended over the coronavirus outbreak Sao Paulo state prison authorities and local media reported The Sao Paulo state prison authority said it could not say how many inmates had escaped as it was "still tallying the exact number of fugitives." Local media reported that as many as 1,000 had fled from four jails - Mongaguá Porto Feliz and Mirandópolis - ahead of the lockdown A video on social media showed a long stream of prisoners purportedly fleeing a prison Reuters was unable to verify the veracity or location of the video The Sao Paulo state prison authority said "acts of insubordination" had taken place at the jails ahead of the suspension of the day-release program because 34,000 convicts would be returning to jail and "would have a high potential to install and propagate the coronavirus in a vulnerable population generating health risks for servers and custodians." It said law enforcement were "taking care of the situation." Sao Paulo state is home to the First Capital Command which is expanding quickly across the country and in neighboring nations Brazil's overstuffed prisons often see deadly prison riots between rival gangs.  Quickly share this news with your network—keep everyone informed with just a single click Customize your reading experience by adjusting the text size to small or large—find what’s most comfortable for you.