ENGLISH DEYEA NEWS

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS | PECOS, Texas - Inmates at a privately run prison in West Texas took two hostages after starting a riot and setting at least one fire Friday, authorities said.

The two prison employees taken hostage are recreation specialists at the Reeves County Detention Center. A hostage negotiator was talking to the inmates, Reeves County sheriff's spokesman Michael Estorga said in the online edition of the Odessa American.

Fire crews and additional law enforcement were called to the sprawling prison complex after a fire broke out in one of its buildings. The Pecos Enterprise reported that Reeves County emergency officials were called Friday afternoon to the prison, which is run by The GEO Group for the county.

It was unclear what prompted the riot, if anyone inside the prison had been injured or how many inmates were involved.

A woman who answered a phone call from The Associated Press at the Reeves County Detention Complex warden's office said she had no comment and hung up.

The GEO Group, based in Boca Raton, Fla., has run the jail through contracts with Reeves County and the Federal Bureau of Prisons since 2003. The prison holds more than 2,400 inmates.