Caracas, Aug 19 (EFE) At least eight people have been killed and five injured in a brawl among inmates at an overpopulated prison in the southern Venezuelan state of Bolivar, a prison watchdog group has said.

The incident occurred at the Vista Hermosa prison early Tuesday morning when a gunbattle broke out among the prisoners, Humberto Prado, the head of the Venezuelan Prison Observatory, told Union Radio.

Media outlets reported that the bodies were taken to the morgue at the Hospital Ruiz y Paez in Ciudad Bolivar, some 800 km south of Caracas.

The same outlets said that on Tuesday afternoon new armed clashes broke out among the prisoners at the facility and thus it is presumed that the number of injured or dead could rise.

Prado complained that currently the Vista Hermosa prison houses 850 inmates although its capacity is for just 400.