29 inmates killed in Venezuelan jail riot

A showdown between armed inmates and guards has left at least 29 prisoners dead in an overcrowded cellblock of a Venezuelan jail, an official says.

At least 29 people were killed and 19 others injured at the prison in Portuguesa, about 350km southwest of the capital Caracas. according to an official in the Attorney General's office.

Last year, a prison riot in the city of Valencia left 68 inmates dead, many of whom were burned alive. At least 39 died two years ago inside a jail in the state of Amazonas, prisoner rights group Venezuelan Prison Observatory said.

Venezuela is in the throes of a historic political and social crisis marked by shortages of food and medicine that's driving millions to flee the country.

Critics say about 30 prisons spread across Venezuela are severely overcrowded, housing 57,000 inmates, and often run by gangs that traffic drugs and weapons.