Death toll rises to 17 in Mexico prison attack

Mexico City, Jan 3 The death toll from an attack on a prison in Mexico's Chihuahua state rose to 17, including 10 guards, the state prosecutor's office said.

A total of 27 inmates escaped during the incident in the border city of Ciudad Juarez, and 13 people were injured 10 inmates and three officers, Xinhua news agency quoted the office as saying in a statement.

The attack on the medium-security Center for Social Reinsertion No. 3 occurred on early Sunday morning, when armed suspects in armoured vehicles opened fire on security guards at the prison, triggering a shootout.

Defence Minister Luis Cresencio Sandoval said a prison search after the breakout uncovered 10 "luxury cells", weapons, drugs and more than 1.7 million pesos ($87,000) kept in a safe.

The attackers that stormed the prison belong to a criminal gang called Los Mexicles, which has ties to the Caborca Cartel.

The escapees include their leader Ernesto Alfredo Pinon, known as "El Neto", said Sandoval.

According to the last census, the facility houses 3,901 inmates.