BUENOS AIRES, April 12 (Xinhuanet) -- At least 13 prisoners died in a crowded Argentine jail overnight after a fight between two gangs escalated into a full-scale riot, local press said on Tuesday.

    The rioters took at least three guards hostage before the two gangs began fighting in the Coronda jail in the outskirts of the Santa Fe Province, some 400 km northeast of Buenos Aires.

    The violence continued into early hours of Tuesday before authorities regained control of the jail, according to a spokesman for the Penitentiary Service of the province.

    "At least two of the dead were burned alive, while the others were beheaded," said Fernando Manuel Rosua, manager of the Penitentiary Service.

    Several prisoners were injured, with three of them seriously. The injured were taken out of the jail right after the violence involving 600 prisoners.

    The guards were released unharmed. No guards were seriously injured.

    "The problem was heated up" when one of the gangs "started to protest in a violent way for the death of one of its leaders who was murdered by an opposite gang," said Oscar Mansilla, the manager of the jail.

    Authorities said overcrowding in the jail may have contributed to tensions among inmates. The jail, which has a reported capacity1,000 prisoners, was actually holding some 1,500 inmates. Enditem