The riot began after 13:00 local time (17:00 GMT), at the Los Llanos Penitentiary Center (Cepello), in Guanare, about 500 kilometers southwest of the Venezuelan capital, where the investigation continued until eight hours after the incident, according to an Efe report Fiscal source, who did not specify the circumstances in which the events occurred.

During the fray, in which the inmates used firearms and white weapons, as well as sharp objects and a grenade, the prison director, Carlos Toro, was seriously injured in the back and in the head.

In addition, Lieutenant of the Bolivarian National Guard (GNB) Escarlet González, who was at the scene, was hit by shrapnel from a grenade thrown by one of the inmates involved in the brawl.

The most seriously wounded were taken to the Dr. Miguel Oraá hospital, while the deceased were taken to a temporary morgue near the prison in the town of Guanare, in the state of Portuguesa, where they would be identified and their family members informed.

The event occurred at a time when Venezuela is under an order of confinement and social distancing, as a result of the pandemic by COVID-19, which keeps all health centers in the country on alert by order of President Nicolás Maduro.