Police quell riot at Tijuana prison

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Police stormed a troubled state prison in the border city of Tijuana on Wednesday after violence erupted for the second time in four days.

Baja California state authorities regained control of La Mesa State Penitentiary within hours and initially said there were no fatalities. But rumors of deaths and injuries in the prison spurred continued turmoil outside the walls, where a crowd of hundreds had gathered, pelting authorities with rocks and blocking ambulances as they tried to leave. By this morning, authorities were reporting that 19 inmates had been killed, according to Mexican news reports.

The protesters, most of whom have relatives at La Mesa, had kept vigil since a riot Sunday left three inmates dead. They have accused authorities of lying about the number of deaths and injuries in the Sunday melee, and those accusations continued after Wednesday’s outbreak.

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-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City