A deadly brawl between rival gangs inside a Mexico state prison resulted in the death of 28 inmates on Thursday morning.
Authorities had initially reported only five deaths, but later drastically raised the toll when more bodies were found scattered throughout the Acapulco prison.
Officials said the gang-related brawl began around 4am and left dozens of people dead, with up to four inmates brutally decapitated.
Bodies were discovered throughout the Guerrero state prison grounds, including a kitchen, a cellblock and other areas of the facility.
Apart from the 28 fatalities, three men were found wounded.
Robert Alvarez Heredia, the Guerrero state security spokesman, said in a statement that security forces later regained control and slowly began searching for the dead.
'The incident began because of the constant dispute between rival groups inside the prison,' Alvarez said.
An anonymous law enforcement official told Reuters that four inmates had been decapitated.
Families of inmates rushed to the prison after hearing the news of the deadly riot, pleading with police for information.
Some desperate relatives tore down a section of the prison's fence trying to get to their loved ones. State police said the prison population is more than 2,000.
Acapulco is the biggest city in Guerrero, one of Mexico's most lawless and violent states.
What was the once-glamorous resort of Acapulco has turned into a city struggling with a high number of killings.It is a center of opium poppy production that has been a major concern to U.S. officials.
A February brawl between rival drug gangs at an overcrowded penitentiary in northern Mexico resulted in 49 inmates being killed, Mexico's deadliest prison melee in years.
That clash was between inmates aligned with the Zetas and Gulf drug cartels.In June, Mexico's governmental rights agency issued a report that said many of the country's prisons are unsafe, overcrowded and understaffed.
The report warned of insufficient staff, unsafe procedures and poor medical care at many facilities.
The National Human Rights Commission said it surveyed conditions at over 190 state, local and federal jails.
It found that inmates often controlled some areas of prisons or had contraband inside.
