At least five prisoners were killed during a riot at a maximum security prison in Yare, 70 kilometers south of the capital Caracas, Venezuela's Ministry of Corrections said on Tuesday.

On Monday, a fight at Yare III prison escalated into a "riot," authorities said, resulting in the deaths of five inmates.

Prison authorities did not specify what caused the incidents, nor whether or how many prisoners were injured. The prosecutor's office limited itself to stating that an investigation was underway.

In 2023, ousted President Nicolas Maduro ordered large-scale military operations to retake control of prisons controlled by inmates and gangs. Dozens of prisoners were transferred to Yare III.

The neighboring Yare II prison is home to many prisoners the opposition describes as politicians. Last week, 46 of them were released, an AFP team found.

The non-governmental organization Venezuelan Prison Observatory (OVP) counted 105 deaths in prisons or detention centers in the Latin American country in 2024, which it attributed to unsafe detention conditions.

Conditions in Venezuelan prisons are constantly criticized by non-governmental organizations for overcrowding, lack of food and drinking water, violence, gangs, and unsanitary conditions.