The death toll following an attempted break-out in a prison in the northern part of Mexico has risen to 22, officials say.
Reports broke out Tuesday of wardens of a prison in the city of Gomez Palacio, which is located in northeast Durango State.
A public security official told the Associated Press on the condition of anonymity that at least 13 inmates and nine prison guards have been killed in the break-out, with some of the injured dying later from bullet wounds.
Yahoo! News reports that the inmates, who got a hold of firearms, began shooting at guard towers while attempting to flee through a back wall and tunnel as prison guards shot back and attempted to get the riot under control.
The breakout attempt comes one day after Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto announced he would be creating a national police force of 10,000 officers to tasked with stopping crime and violence in Mexico.
For decades, drug-related violence, kidnappings and extortion have plagued Mexico, and Pena Nieto vowed to tackle those issues as president during a meeting with U.S. President Obama last month following the U.S. elections.
In a statement officials made to CNN, it was stated that military troops stopped the attempted prison break, and authorities were investigating who was responsible.
This is not the first time that violence has occurred at the prison, as 11 inmates died in 2011 after a fight at the prison broke out.