Скачать или смотреть Hugo Pinell of 'San Quentin six' killed in US prison riot

An inmate of a Californian jail, who was notorious for a failed prison break in 1971, has been killed and others injured in a riot, officials say.

Hugo Pinell, 71, was killed and 11 inmates were treated for stab wounds on Wednesday when fighting broke out at California State Prison-Sacramento.

Pinell, in jail since 1965, had been serving three life sentences.

He was part of the "San Quentin Six" behind a prison break attempt in which four inmates and two guards died.

He was originally given a life sentence for rape in San Francisco, and then again in 1971 for killing a prison guard at Soledad Prison.

Pinell received a third life term for his role in assaulting prison guards during the infamous prison break attempt at San Quentin jail, near San Francisco, later the same year.

He helped to slit the throats of prison guards in the bloody incident, which led to the deaths of six in total, the Associated Press news agency reports.

Prison staff fired warning shots and used pepper spray to break up the riot at the maximum security facility on Wednesday, officials said. No members of prison staff were injured, they added.

It is not clear if it was Pinell's killing that triggered the riot, as the AP news agency reports, or if he was in fact killed during the violence.

Officials said up to 100 inmates were involved in the brawl.

An investigation into how the incident unfolded is underway, they added.

California State Prison-Sacramento houses some 2,300 inmates, most of whom are serving lengthy prison sentences.