A fight at an overcrowded Guatemalan prison killed at least eight prisoners and wounded 20, the country's interior minister said on Friday.

An altercation between two inmates turned into a battle between rival gangs at the prison in Puerto Barrios, about 300 km northeast of the capital, said Interior Minister Eunice Mendizabal, who arrived at the prison after the incident.

Mendizabal said there were nearly 1,000 prisoners in the prison that was designed to hold 400.

The incident was the latest in a string of deadly prison fights in the Central American country in recent years. In November, 16 prisoners were killed in a prison riot, with three of the victims decapitated.-Reuters