Deaths in Mexican prison riot lowered to 49

The riot at Topo Chico prison in Monterrey in the state of Nuevo Leon left 49 dead, not 52 as previously reported, authorities confirmed Thursday.

The injury count was also lowered from 12 to five, with three in serious condition, state Governor Jaime Rodriguez Calderon told Xinhua.

Of the dead, 40 had already been identified, he said.

The governor gave a press conference on Thursday morning to clarify some of the circumstances surrounding the riot.

According to the governor, gangs led by Ivan Hernandez Cantu, alias "El Comandante Credo," and Juan Pedro Salvador Zaldivar, alias "El Z 27," clashed and provoked the riot on Wednesday night. Cantu is a leader of the Gulf Cartel while Zaldivar is a member of the Zetas Cartel.

The violence broke out when a number of prisoners took over parts of the prison, prompting a large-scale response from the police. It raged for two hours until security forces regained control at around 1:30 a.m. local time on Thursday.

Calderon said no prisoner had escaped and that all the victims were male prisoners.

Criticism soon raged about the fact that Topo Chico was built for a maximum capacity of 3,685 prisoners, but housed 3,980 prisoners. The National Commission of Human Rights has opened an investigation into the matter.

Calderon said that, in order to remedy the overcrowding, he had ordered to move some prisoners to other prisons, with 36 inmates already being moved on Thursday. Endi