Teens in Sao Paulo juvenile detention center end uprising, free hostages

Sao Paulo, Nov 13 (EFE). —  A group of teenagers confined to a juvenile detention center in Sao Paulo ended the uprising they started hours before and freed the 11 employees they had taken as hostages, authorities reported.

Two employees of Fundacion Casa, the name for the juvenile reformatories operated by the state of Sao Paulo, were injured during the rioting and were taken to hospital, though no details have been forthcoming about their condition.

The uprising broke out for reasons as yet undetermined, and Fundacion Casa said it will launch an investigation to find out exactly what set it off.

According to pictures aired on television, the adolescents took control of several buildings of the detention center, which was surrounded by police who kept watch on the facility but took no action against the teens.

Seen in TV sequences of the rioting, shot from helicopters, were some small fires burning at the doors of at least two buildings of the detention center, which has a capacity for 83 juvenile offenders and is located in Pirituba, on the north side of the city of Sao Paulo.

Several employees of the juvenile detention center successfully negotiated with the adolescents to put an end to the rebellion, which was brought to a halt five hours after it began.

Security measures where strengthened during the uprising to keep the youths from escaping, since Fundacion Casa this year has had the greatest number of inmate escapes since 2005.