The week at a glance...Americas

Monterrey, Mexico

Deadly prison break: A massacre in a Mexican prison this week was used as a cover for a jailbreak. Members of the Zetas drug gang killed 44 members of the rival Gulf cartel at Apodaca prison, in one of Mexico’s worst prison riots. In the mayhem, 30 Zetas members escaped by slipping over the prison walls. Authorities said the prison director, his staff, and 18 guards were suspected of helping the gang members in the massacre and the escape. “The treason, corruption, and complicity of some can obstruct the good work of police, soldiers, and sailors who every day risk their lives,” said Nuevo León Gov. Rodrigo Medina. The prison, built for 1,700 inmates, houses more than 2,700.

Buenos Aires

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Train wreck: At least 49 people were killed and hundreds hurt this week when a train smashed into a barrier at a station and crumpled like an accordion. One car crunched 20 feet into the one in front of it. The rush-hour commuter train was crammed with people and bicycles, the mangled parts of which caused many serious injuries. It was unclear whether the crash was due to human error or malfunctioning brakes. Argentina’s train system has had six major accidents in just over a year, a pattern, said opposition leader Ricardo Alfonsín, that “exposes the reality of a state incapable of acting to protect passengers.”