Rebellion in Manaus ends with 17 injured.

Sputnik Brazil - A prison riot in Manaus that lasted more than five hours ended this Saturday (2), reported the Amazonas Security Secretariat. 

During the riot, inmates took seven officers hostage at the Puraquequara Prison Unit (UPP). According to the government, there were no deaths. 

The Secretary of Security, Colonel Louismar Bonates, went to the site and said that the "situation" was "normalized". 

"No hostages were seriously injured, only scratches, and no prisoners were hurt. The situation is now back to normal. The bombs that were dropped were only for psychological effect," he stated, according to the G1 news portal. 

The Military Police, the Fire Department, and the Penitentiary Intervention Group went to the prison to negotiate with the inmates and help contain the rebellion. 

Prisoners say there is a lack of water and food.

According to the press, the prisoners were demanding better conditions and reported situations of deprivation of water and food.

The rebellion began around 6 a.m., during breakfast, when inmates sawed through the bars of two cells and attacked prison guards. The unit holds 1.079 inmates, but the number of people who participated in the riot has not been released. 

Later, on Saturday evening, the Security Secretariat released a statement saying that 17 people had been injured, none seriously: three officers were reportedly injured jumping from the walls, and five prisoners and two military police officers were injured during negotiations. 

Due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, inmates are not allowed to receive visitors and new prisoners are kept in isolation. To date, there are two positive cases of COVID-19 within prisons in Amazonas, neither of them in the Manaus unit. 

Since the beginning of the month, following the discovery of a tunnel that inmates attempted to dig to escape from the UPP (Unidade Prisional do Puraquera), police have been patrolling all prison units in Manaus daily.