Venezuela Prison Riot
Inmates stand in a cell at an unidentified prison in Caracas Reuters

In Venezuela, a riot in a prison spiraled out of control on Thursday. Gang members who had smuggled guns into the facility killed eight of their fellow inmates before taking four police officers hostage.

Venezuelan authorities are trying to negotiate with the prisoners, who have released two of the officers but are still holding two others. The remaining officers are said to be in good health, said Gen. Hector Coronado, commander of the army's second infantry division, according to the Windsor Star.

The army is currently outside the prison, and has agreed to the hostage takers' demands, which include transferring 18 inmates to new facilities.

Prison riots are not an uncommon event, where the incarceration system is severely overloaded. Venezuela has 30 prisons that are designed to hold 12,000 inmates but currently holds nearly 50,000.

Aside from being uncomfortable, overcrowding also burdens the judicial system, and many prisoners have to wait months or sometimes years to be tried.

In June, a month long riot at the El Rodeo I prison near Caracas left 25 inmates dead. The National Guard sieged the prison, capturing one cell block at a time.

In the first six months of 2011, more than 150 prisoners died in Venezuelan prisons, according to CNN.

The deadliest prison riot in Venezuela happened in 1999, when 27 prisoners were killed in a fight with security personnel.