At least nine people were killed and another 14 were injured during a prison riot in the central Brazilian state of Goias, which led to the fire and the escape of more than 100 prisoners, local media reported..

The authorities claimed that a group of prisoners entered the wing of the prison, where members of a rival gang. This was the reason for the riot that led to the shooting, according to the news portal G1.

Firefighters were able to extinguish the fire, and military police detained 29 of the 106 escaped prisoners and quelled riots.

In the northern state of Amazonas, 10 prisoners also fled from prison on Monday.

According to the latest official figures, Brazil ranks third in the world in terms of the number of prisoners. As of June 2016, there are 726712 people behind bars.

This figure is almost double the installed capacity in 2016 - 368049 people. The wars between competing drug cartels are not unusual.