Police enter Brazil prison in attempt to quell gang fighting

Riot police are entering a prison in northeastern Brazil where 26 inmates were killed recently, in an attempt to separate rival gangs inside the complex.

A helicopter flew overhead Saturday as an armored vehicle and about 40 police forces including riot police entered the Alcacuz prison complex, which has been in control of the prisoners for several days. Authorities plan to erect a barrier of shipping containers to keep the gangs apart. Gang fighting in prisons in Brazil has left at least 126 dead in recent weeks.

The violence at Alcacuz has also spilled over to the nearby city of Natal, where buses have been burned in recent days. The governor Rio Grande do Norte state has asked the army for help retaking the prison and in patrolling Natal.