A bomb attack killed five inmates and wounded at least 30 others at a Venezuelan prison, officials said Thursday. Unidentified attackers threw two explosive devices into a courtyard at the Alayon prison in the central city of Maracay on Wednesday night, prosecutors said. Venezuelan media reports said the attackers rode up on a motorcycle and threw five grenades into the prison, only two of which exploded.
Venezuela, which is mired in twin economic and political crises marked by severe shortages and violent crime, has seen a series of grenade attacks in recent months. About a dozen such attacks have occurred at military bases, police stations, prisons and a newspaper since mid-2015. President Nicolas Maduro's government blamed the hard-line opposition party Popular Will for one recent attack that killed a policeman - an accusation the party vehemently denied.