At least 15 prisoners died when fight broke out in Mexican jail

The Mexican government said in a statement that more than 15 prisoners were killed and five others were badly wounded following a fight that broke out inside one of the country's jail.

According to the government' statement, the fight broke out at the Regional Center for Social Reintegration in the town of Cieneguillas, west of state capital Zacatecas.

The statement said that a prisoner was arrested by prison guards after another prisoner was found with a firearm. Another three guns were found in the prison, as well as a number of knives.

The Mexican authorities said they have launched an investigation to determine those responsible for the fight and how the weapons entered the prison. 

The authorities did not say how the fight started, but several Mexican news outlets reported that inmates from rival cartels had turned a dispute over a friendly soccer game into a deadly fight.

Mexican prisons have long been plagued by violence. In 2017, at least 28 inmates were killed when a brutal fight broke out in a prison in the Mexican Pacific resort of Acapulco.