Mexico's Topo Chico prison riot sees 50 people dead!

 What started as a late-night fight between leaders of rival gangs spiraled into a massive prison riot in northern Mexico that left dozens dead, officials said Thursday.

The riot killed 52 people inside Topo Chico prison in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon state Gov. Jaime Rodriguez said at a news conference.

Twelve others were injured, including five who are in critical condition, he said.

Video showed flames rising from the prison -- the result Rodriguez said, of inmates setting fires inside.The violent clashes come just one day before Pope Francis arrives in Mexico, a trip that will include a stop at a prison in Ciudad Juarez, a city on the mend after once being known as the murder capital of the world.

Past riots sprang from cartel rivalries

Mexico has seen deadly riots and other prison violence in the past.

At the same prison in Monterrey, three inmates were stabbed to death in February 2012.

That same month, 44 inmates were killed and 30 escaped in a riot at a prison in Apodaca, near Monterrey. Security officials blamed the violence on a fierce rivalry between drug cartels inside that prison.

In 2011, the head of security at the Topo Chico prison was found dead and mutilated. Authorities said that a note, presumably from a drug cartel, was left with the body.

Source; +CNN International