Three prisoners decapitated during fight between rival gangs

The fight apparently erupted between members of the Mara 18 and Mara Salvatrucha

A soldier stands guard at a crime scene where three bus drivers and another man were killed by alleged members of the Mara 18 street gang, one of the gangs involved in the prison fight (Getty)

Officials in Guatemala say the death toll in a brawl among inmates at an overcrowded prison has risen to 16, including three inmates who were decapitated.

Firefighters said Monday they had removed 16 bodies from the prison, known as the Canada Rehabilitation Farm.

Deputy Interior Minister Elmer Sosa says police and soldiers intervened to restore order at the prison after gunfire broke out Sunday. It was unclear how inmates had gotten the guns.

Prison system spokesman Rudy Esquivel says the prison was designed to hold 600 inmates, but houses 3,092.

The spokesman says the fight apparently erupted between members of the Mara 18 and Mara Salvatrucha gangs and fellow inmates who don't belong to the gangs

AP