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14 Die as Gangs Battle in Panama Prison

Agence France-Presse

   PANAMA CITY - Rival gang members opened fire in a crowded Panamanian
   prison killing 14 inmates and wounding around a dozen others, the
   government announced Wednesday.

   The gun battle, involving AK-47 automatic rifles and other firearms,
   erupted late Tuesday in La Joyita penitentiary, one of the country's
   largest prisons, east of Panama City.

   "After the fight yesterday in Hall 14 of the La Joyita penitentiary we
   can report that 14 prisoners have died," the interior ministry said on
   Twitter, updating an earlier toll of 12 dead.

   The country's prisons director Walter Hernandez said 14 prisoners were
   wounded, one seriously.

   The shooting broke out among young inmates in a section of the prison
   known as Hall 14, which houses around 500 prisoners, authorities said.

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