Prison riots are never a good thing, but some
are worse than others. The most violent prison riots in history all
started for one of two reasons: incredibly poor living conditions or gang warfare. Today we are about to take you through the
top ten most deadly prison riots of all time, each one more gruesome than the last. We’ll start you off slowly and work our
way to the most deadly prison riot in history. Just when you think it can’t get any worse…
it will. The tropical islands of the Philippines are
surrounded by beautiful aqua water and coconut trees as far as the eye can see. Unfortunately, it is also the country where
the tenth most deadly prison riot began. The prison riot at Davao Metro Discom took
place from August 13 to August 15 in 1989. The riot began when 16 prisoners escaped from
their cells. They had planned to riot due to the poor conditions
in the prison. In order to gain attention, the escapees took
15 civilian hostages from a visiting Protestant church group called the Joyful Assembly of
God. The church members would pray for God to help
them survive. Unfortunately, not everyone's prayers were
answered. The prisoners were members of the Wild Boys
of DaPeCol gang. They held the hostages for ransom until their
demands were met. Their asking price; better conditions in the
prison. The Davao police called in the military and
launched a rescue. Troops and police moved in with machine guns
and riot equipment. They had tried ending the riot peacefully,
but the prisoners would not give up and began harming the hostages. The authorities could not allow this so they
went in with guns blazing. 21 people lost their lives during the raid. All 16 inmates were killed and 5 hostages
were murdered. But this riot is nothing compared to what
is coming up. The next deadliest prison riot took place
in Iquique, Chile in May of 2001. Like the riot in Davao, this riot started
due to the unbearable prison conditions the inmates were living in. Unlike Davao no hostages were taken, but massive
destruction was brought upon the prison itself. One of the issues was overcrowding, which
meant that when the riot started there were a lot of inmates ready to join in the mayhem. The riot started with the prisoners overwhelming
the guards and freeing other inmates as they made their way through the building. To make their displeasure clear they started
to destroy the prison. This culminated in the inmates lighting a
large fire that quickly engulfed part of the prison. The building had been built almost twenty
years prior and little attention was given to fire proofing the structure. The fire raged out of control consuming any
inmates in its path. It wasn’t until hours later that the authorities
were finally able to get the blaze under control, and disband the rioting prisoners. By this point, the flames had claimed 28 inmates
and injured 150 more. This riot was not deadly because of inmate
violence, but because of the fire that got out of control. The same cannot be said about our next prison
riot. No fire was started, but inmate on inmate
violence was very prevalent. You won’t believe what these prisoners did
to one another. Venezuela’s Santa Ana Prison broke into
a deadly riot in December of 2007. The prison itself held around 2,000 inmates,
some of whom were the most violent and dangerous people in the country. The prison riot all started with an argument
between an inmate and a guard. It is unclear who threw the first punch, but
what ensued was pure violence and chaos. The inmates revolted. They used anything they could find to fight
the guards. Once the prison personnel had been removed
from the general vicinity, the prisoners turned their weapons on one another. Rival gangs hunted down their enemies. They used shovels or pieces of brick and concrete
broken from the walls to attack one another. Some inmates even had homemade weapons that
they had been saving for such an occasion. At the end of the riot 30 inmates lay dead
from gang warfare. But what happens when the prison guards can’t
get away from the inmates? This next prison riot will definitely leave
you more horrified than the previous three. The New Mexico State Penitentiary Riot lasted
two days, starting on February 2, 1980. Like other riots the prisoners were revolting
against the atrocious conditions in the prison. Things like unsanitary cells, poor quality
food, and the cancellation of their education program were the main causes of the riot. As a result of these conditions the inmates
took 12 officers hostage. The first officer was overpowered by two inmates. After he was secured, other prisoners followed
suit and began capturing guards around the prison. In their haste the fleeing prison guards did
not lock the doors behind them. The inmates got ahold of the keys from the
captured officers’ belts and began unlocking the cells of even more prisoners. Then the chaos really began. The freed prisoners began smashing windows
and doors. They grabbed weapons and more keys to unlock
more cells. Eventually the inmates turned on each other. Rival gang members started attacking one another. The officers that were being held hostage
were beaten and raped. The police eventually took back control of
the prison. 33 inmates were killed and more than 200 were
injured. The 12 officers who were taken hostage all
survived, but after what they had been put through, many may have wished they hadn’t. It is crazy what prisoners will do when in
a riot, and we are not even halfway through the list of the most violent prison riots
in history. It’s just going to get crazier and crazier. This next riot is actually a combination of
prison riots in Guatemala in 2005. The reason these riots are grouped together
is because they were all carried out by the same gangs in coordination with one another. The prison riots of Pavon, Granja Pino Canada,
and El Hoyon all were orchestrated by the Mara Salvatrucha and MS-13 gangs. The attacks and subsequent riots within the
prisons were carried out using heavier weapons than in any of the previous accounts. The gangs used grenades to open up holes in
the prisons’ defenses. In the confusion the prisoners were able to
riot against the guards. They got their hands on knives and guns, which
they used on the guards and each other. 35 inmates died during the coordinated riots. 61 prisoners were injured at El Hoyon alone,
many were found bleeding from knife wounds. Now this next prison riot is a little more
well known, and for good reason. It took four days for the police to regain
control and ended with an 8 million dollar settlement in favor of the prisoners. This riot was called the Attica Prison Riot
and happened in New York. The riot started on September 9, 1971. It seemed like just another day. Except the command staff of the prison had
decided to change the scheduling a bit. Unfortunately, they did not inform the officer
who was in charge of leading the group of men in 5 Company to their next location. The group normally went out to the yard right
after breakfast, but on this day the guard found the door to the yard locked. The inmates realized the officer was confused
and capitalized on it. They overpowered the guard. The rioters then ran back down the hallway
gaining more and more inmates as they went. The 1,000 person mob began to brutally beat
the guards and took their weapons. They burnt down the prison chapel. 42 officers and staff were taken hostage. The riot itself was not the craziest part
about this story however. After four days of the inmates running the
prison, the state police finally gained back control. They did so by killing 39 people. Although some inmates needed to be subdued,
the police were accused of shooting prisoners who had surrendered in cold blood. The most messed up part of the situation though
was the killing of 10 hostages. The hostages were not killed by the inmates,
but by the state police. They tried to cover up their mistake, but
the autopsy reports proved that the hostages had been shot dead by weapons used by the
state police. In the end, the injured inmates filed a lawsuit
against the state. They received a settlement for 8 million dollars
for the unlawful action of the police and state officials, and for violation of Human
Rights. We are now getting to the top of our list. The amount of violence is going to skyrocket,
so just be ready. For our next violent prison riot we are going
to head back to South America to the country of Brazil. There were 3 riots that took place at the
Anisio Jobim Penitentiary Complex in Manaus, Brazil in January of 2017. All of the riots were between two rival drug
trafficking gangs called Familie do Norte and Primeiro Commando da Capital. What stands out most about these riots are
how brutal they were. The prison riots at the Anisio Jobim Penitentiary
Complex were orchestrated to kill rival gang members, not to harm the officers at the prison. The riots resulted in 60 prisoners losing
their lives on the very first day. The most gruesome part is that the rival gang
members did not just kill one another, they tortured each other. In many cases the torture ended with decapitiation. These riots had little to do with protesting
prison conditions and everything to do with gang warfare. This brings us to our top 3 most violent prison
riots of all time. There are parts of these riots that were even
hard for us to believe, because of how crazy they were. Buckle in for a wild ride. For the third most violent prison riot we
are back in Venezuela. The Uribana Prison Riot began on January 25,
2013. This riot was triggered by an announcement
that Venezuelan National Guard troops would be searching the facility for weapons. This was part of an anti-gang task force. Knowing that the National Guard would not
like what they found the prisoners riotted. Everyone was a target in this riot. Inmates, officers, and National Guard troops
were all a part of the final death count. The violence became so bad, that after the
riot was over bodies mutilated beyond recognition were found. These heinous acts led human rights groups
to condemn the prison, citing that overcrowding and inhumane conditions were partly the reason
for the riot. 61 people were killed and 120 others were
injured during this event. We are now at the penultimate most violent
prison riot in history. We hope you’re ready, because there is no
way you’ll see what’s coming in these last two prison riots. El Porvenir Prison in Honduras was used to
hold suspects on trial for assault, drug trafficking, and rape charges. On April 6, 2003 the worst of the worst began
to riot at El Porvenir Prison. A fight erupted between the two rival gangs
of Mara Salvatrucha and La 18. Like the Iquique Prison, the destructive method
of choice for the rioters was to set stuff on fire. The gang members set the mattresses of their
rivals on fire while they were locked in their cells. Although there was some fighting during the
riot, the fire is what claimed the most lives. It took firefighters hours to put out the
blaze. When it was contained and authorities proceeded
through the prison to get the riot under control, they found 86 dead inmates, all burnt to a
crisp. You’ve made it to the most violent prison
riot in history. This last prison riot is so violent that it
was named the Carandiru Massacre. It broke out on October 2, 1992 at the Carandiru
Penitentiary in São Paulo, Brazil. The riot got so bad that the Military police
were called upon to subdue the inmates. Unfortunately for everyone involved in the
riot, they did a lot more than just subdue them. The police came into the prison weapons hot
and 102 prisoners were shot dead. The officers were later accused of human rights
violations and using excessive force. Accounts surfaced of prisoners being shot
even after they surrendered. Survivors recounted police shooting inmates
who were hiding in their cells, but the São Paulo court found the police innocent and
no charges were carried out. Out of the 68 officers who were sent in to
break up the riot, not a single one was killed, which makes you wonder why so many of the
inmates had to die. There were also 9 inmates found stabbed to
death by other prisoners, which brings the death toll of the most violent prison riot
in history to 111 people, all of which were inmates. Prisons are already dangerous, but when riots
break out they can be deadly. This list is by no means the only prison riots
that have occured, but they are the deadliest. As a rule of thumb it is probably just best
to stay out of gangs, prison, or prison riots if you value your life. Now check out How To Survive Inside Prison? Or watch 50 Insane Facts About Prison You
Wouldn't Believe.
