Prisoners beheaded and burned to death in jail violence

At least 25 prisoners were killed - some in brutal fashion - during clashes between rival inmates in a Brazilian jail.

Seven of the dead were beheaded while six others were burned to death in the bloody fighting between rival factions, local media reported.

The bloodshed began when inmates of one wing of the Agricola de Monte Cristo prison, northern Brazil, broke into another wing.

Prisoners were armed with knives and wooden clubs when the fighting erupted during visiting hours.

Some 100 relatives of inmates were briefly held hostage before armed police stormed the prison.

The fighting was then quelled and the hostages released.