Prison Break: 14 killed, 24 inmates escape in Northern Mexico

In northern Mexico after gunmen, suspected to be members of a drug cartel, opened fire on the Chihuahua state prison shortly after 07:00 (14:00 GMT), 24 inmates escaped while 10 prison guards were killed, along with 4 prisoners, during the brutal attack in the border city of Ciudad Juarez.

Authorities confirm that the gunmen arrived in armoured vehicles and began firing on the guards. Also, fighting within the prison, where inmates from differing criminal bands and drug cartels are housed  led to about 13 injured persons. Four of which are being treated in hospital.

Outside, relatives gathered, hugging each other and crying as they waited for news. One woman said the attackers were dressed in black, were better armed than the police, and were shooting at any vehicles that passed by.

The army and the national guard have been called in to support local authorities in the aftermath. Meanwhile, before the escape, armed men fired on police on a nearby street, setting off a car chase that ended up with four men being detained.

The city has seen years of violent clashes between the rival Sinaloa and Juarez drug cartels, killing thousands of people in the past decade. The prison was also the site of an uprising last August in which a riot inside the jail spilled over into the streets, killing 11 people.

Both incidents underline the strength which the drug cartels still exert on the prison system. Prosecutors in the city, which is across the border from El Paso, Texas, have promised an investigation into the latest attack.

BBC/S.O