Prisoners started a riot at a Burmese prison after the devastation brought upon the country by Cyclone Nargis. They were countered very violent by soldiers and riot police who shot dead 36 prisoners according to a report from The Telegraph.

The notorious Insein Prison in Rangoon, the capital of Burma, or Myanmar, houses numerous political prisoners who oppose the country’s military regime. The prison has been described by inmates who made it out of there as “the darkest hell-hole in Burma”.

The report about the prison execution came after the local authorities estimated that the death toll of the dead and missing after the killer typhoon increased to more than 80,000.

In the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis, as many as 1 million are homeless. Some villages have been completely wiped out from the Earth’s surface, according to the World Food Program.

The typhoon struck Myanmar’s heartland and largest city, Yangon, early Saturday and destroyed everything in it path. Several aid agencies are making huge efforts to help those suffering from this catastrophe, but their crews are finding it rather difficult to reach some isolated areas with supplies and large numbers of aid.

The relief efforts are being held back because the cyclone destroyed numerous roads and communications outlets.

The first country to help Myanmar was the neighboring Thailand which sent help on Tuesday.