A clash at the El Castillo detention center in the city of Mazatlan, in Mexico's Sinaloa state, has left 10 people dead and 16 injured, according to state officials.
Sinaloa's Public Security Secretariat said Thursday that the brawl inside the prison killed nine inmates and one visiting relative. Sinaloa Public Security Director Sinuhe Tellez said in a video posted on social media that the relative who died was a minor.
The 16 injured inmates were transferred for medical care, according to the state Public Security Secretariat.
The agency added that an interagency group of security forces was dispatched to the scene, and that the prison is now "under control" with officials maintaining a presence there.
Tellez said social workers are contacting the families of the victims, and that visitation has been suspended as a precautionary measure while the remaining inmates are safe.
Sinaloa is contested territory among factions of the Sinaloa drug cartel and is one of six Mexican states where the U.S. State Department advises its citizens not to travel due to security concerns. Officials have not said whether the prison violence is linked to the conflict between those factions.
