Guards injured in New Mexico prison riot

ESTANCIA, N.M. - Eight guards were injured, two seriously, during a prison uprising early Saturday in which 32 inmates took corrections officers hostage, authorities said.

The riot began around 12:30 a.m. and was quelled after about two hours when an emergency response team threw tear gas into the area, State Police Lt. Gary Smith said.

None of the inmates was injured in the fighting, Smith said.

Fifteen of the 32 were directly involved in the assaults, and charges will be filed against them, said prison spokeswoman Abby Fink. She said all 32 would be placed in isolation.

The uprising at the privately run Torrance County Detention Facility began after inmates refused to go to their cells for the night, Smith said. Inmates beat and stabbed guards with parts of torn-up furniture from their cells, he said.

Two guards stabbed during the disturbance were originally listed in critical condition but underwent surgery and were taken off the critical list on Saturday, Fink said. Five other guards were in stable condition, and one guard was treated on the scene for minor injuries.

The prison, which is about 40 miles east of Albuquerque, is operated by Nashville, Tenn.-based Corrections Corporation of America. It has been the site of several disturbances in recent years.

In August 1999, a fight during an inmate softball game left five prisoners and two guards injured. In 1998, one inmate was fatally stabbed, and other disturbances injured seven inmates and five guards.

On the Net:

Corrections Corporation: http://www.correctionscorp.com/