 AT LEAST 133 inmates died at a prison in the Dominican Republic yesterday after rival gangs fighting to control the drug trade at the jail set pillows and mattresses ablaze and blocked the entrance from their jailers. A fire chief, Nestor Vera, said three gangs battling over who would sell drugs and cigarettes at the jail in Higuey, 75 miles north-east of the capital on the eastern tip of the island, had blocked the entrance to the cell block in order to fight it out, before some of them started the fire. The violence began when an inmate, Jose Manuel Hernandez Mota, shot and wounded a rival gang member on Sunday night and dozens of prisoners began fighting over who would take control, Gen de la Cruz Martinez said. Guards broke up that fight, but at about 12:30am many prisoners began rioting, setting fire to pillows and sheets. The Dominican Republic has the most overcrowded jails in the western hemisphere, according to United Nations figures. |