Officials say a riot in a western Venezuelan prison has killed scores of people and wounded dozens more. Some reports say the death toll could be 50 or more, but the number has not been confirmed.
Prisons Minister Iris Varela said violence erupted Friday after inmates rebelled when prison authorities launched a sweep of the Centro Occidental jail in search of illicit weapons.
Local prison advocacy groups say the South American nation's overcrowded prisons were designed to hold about a third of the 50,000 inmates now in them.