Volkswacht Bodensee - Inmates free hostages at Paraguay prison, end riot

Hundreds of inmates set alight mattresses and lobbed rocks at officers from the roof of the overcrowded Tacumbu jail during the riot, which began Tuesday.

The guards were held hostage for 15 hours, and dozens of women who had come to visit relatives were also trapped inside during the unrest.

"Everything is restored. Total normality has returned. Officers' weapons have been recovered. No one was injured," police spokesman Ever Paris told journalists outside the prison.

Police have not said what the negotiations with the inmates entailed, although one of the prisoners' demands was the resignation of Justice Minister Angel Barchini.

The violence comes after the minister last week announced a plan "to regain power in the penitentiary centers," where the Rotela Clan and Brazilian gangs reign supreme.

Barchini had warned that the plan would "cost human lives."

Tacumbu prison houses around 3,000 inmates, or six times the capacity it was built for, criminologist Juan Martens told AFP.

Paraguay, a country of 6.5 million inhabitants, has around 16,000 inmates spread across 18 prisons.

E.Burkhard--VB