Deadly Fire Erupts Amid Riot at Venezuela Jail

CARACAS, Venezuela — A riot at a police station in the northern city of Valencia where dozens of prisoners were being held turned deadly on Wednesday after a fire erupted, leaving anguished relatives to seek answers from authorities.

Crowds of angry family members gathered outside the facility, some facing off with police officers in riot gear, as hours passed with little information from officials.

Late Wednesday, the government confirmed that there had been fatalities but would not say how many.

“We will not present official figures out of respect for the families,” the secretary-general of the local government, Jesús Santander, said in a statement. The toll will be released “at the appropriate time,” he said.

The facility had a capacity of about 60 detainees, workers at the scene said, although prison crowding has often resulted in Venezuelan detention facilities exceeding their capacities. The Venezuelan Observatory of Prisons, a group that monitors prison conditions, has said there is chronic overcrowding nationwide.

“What we want is justice,” one relative, María José Rondón, said in a video posted to Twitter. “We want to know everything that is happening.”

Gunfire was reported as the rioting began, although the source and the reasons were unclear, and the fire erupted during the unrest.