Inmates in a prison in the northeastern Brazilian state of Sergipe took 122 hostages on Saturday - nearly all of them visiting relatives of the inmates.

Inmates in a prison in the northeastern Brazilian state of Sergipe took 122 hostages on Saturday - nearly all of them visiting relatives of the inmates, a prison official told AFP.

"The riot is only in one wing of the prison," said prison spokeswoman Sandra Melo, adding that the situation had calmed down and that negotiations for the release of the hostages would resume early Sunday.

Melo said that there were four prison guards among the hostages at the Advogado Jacinto Filho prison in the city of Aracaju, the Sergipe state capital.