Many inmates flee after Mexico jail riot

More than 150 prisoners escaped from a state penitentiary in Cancun early Friday after hundreds of inmates overpowered guards with knives and bats. Police quickly recaptured about half the men.

Guards shot and killed three inmates during the riot, said Red Cross official Ricardo Portugal, who received the bodies. Several prisoners and guards were wounded.

About 1,000 inmates attacked guards to stop the transfer of 40 inmates, including alleged prison gang leader Marcos Gallegos, to another penitentiary more than 200 miles to the south, Reyes said.

Gallegos, otherwise known as "the Cowboy or "the Godfather," is serving 17 years for raping minors, he said. He was not among the prisoners who escaped.

Hundreds of soldiers and police rushed to the penitentiary after the rioting began. They had most of the prison under control hours later, but gangs of inmates still roamed free in some areas.

Police had captured 70 of the escaped prisoners and were searching for the rest, said prison director Juvenal Reyes.