Inmates transferred as police continue Reynosa prison riot investigation

REYNOSA - More than 50 inmates were transferred from the state prison here after riots early Monday morning killed 21 prisoners and injured a dozen more, the Mexican state news agency reported.

Meanwhile, Tamaulipas state officials continued to investigate the prison riot at the Cereso Dos state prison on Reynosa's southern outskirts.

The transferred inmates were sent to prisons in Ciudad Victoria and Altamira, near Tampico, according to Notimex, the state news agency.

The inmates used guns, knives and gasoline fires during the Reynosa prison massacre that ended with Mexican army soldiers storming the facility to regain control later Monday morning, officials said.

Tamaulipas State Police officials confirmed late Monday night that 21 inmates were killed in the riot and 12 more were wounded. Their investigation continues.

In the mutiny's wake, state officials suspended the prison's director, Carlos Hernández Vega. An interim director of the prison was appointed.

Investigators continued to gather information from inmates to try to find out who was responsible for causing the eruption of violence.

State police officials said in a statement that they have "established a dialogue" with the families of the deceased and wounded inmates.

The prison riot made headlines among news outlets across the world and caused some Mexican politicians to demand reform in the country's overcrowded prisons.

"The main problem is that overcrowding causes a lack of control," Congressman Juan Francisco Bedoya told the Reforma news agency in Spanish. "The buildings are very old. They should be museums, because they are no longer operating" properly.