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Rioting and a fire in the cells of a Venezuelan police station in the central city of Valencia have killed 68 people, according to the Government and witnesses.
Nearly all those killed were prisoners, according to chief prosecutor Tarek William Saab.
He said two women who were staying overnight at the station also died, but did not provide any further details.
Angry families waiting outside the police station for news about the incident were dispersed with tear gas, and authorities did not provide information until late into the evening.
Relatives said detainees had been kept in squalid conditions and expressed fear their loved ones were dead.
"I don't know if my son is dead or alive!" Aida Parra, who last saw her son a day before when she went to deliver him food, said.
"They haven't told me anything."
Venezuelan prisons are notoriously lawless, overcrowded and filled with weapons and drugs.
Riots leaving dozens dead are not uncommon.
Prisoners often openly wield machine guns and grenades, use drugs and leave guards powerless.
"There are people who are inside those dungeons … and the authorities do not know they exist because they do not dare to enter," Humberto Prado, a local prisons rights activist, said.
Mr Saab said on Twitter the State Prosecutor's Office had guaranteed to deepen investigations to clarify what happened.
State official Jesus Santander said the state of Carabobo was in mourning after the incident.
"Forensic doctors are determining the number of fatalities," Mr Santander said.
A policeman shot in the leg during the incident was in a stable condition, he said, and firefighters had extinguished the flames.
The fire is one of the worst jail disasters in a country where human rights groups complain about bad prison conditions.
A fire at a prison in the western state of Zulia killed more than 100 inmates in 1994.
Reuters/AP
Topics: fires, prisons-and-punishment, unrest-conflict-and-war, venezuela
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