At least 17 persons were killed in a shootout in a Mexican prison in the border city of Ciudad Juarez during a breakout attempt, officials said Tuesday. Authorities said inmates took weapons from security forces late Monday and exchanged gunfire with police and soldiers for over an hour at the prison in the city on the US border with El Paso, Texas. Manuel del Castillo, spokesman for the city, said that after the shootout, police entered the prison and found 17 dead, including one woman. The border city is considered the most violent in Mexico, with rival drug cartels battling to control the lucrative narcotics trade. Prisons in the Mexico see frequent violence including riots, killings and escapes. Earlier this month 59 inmates escaped from a prison in Nuevo Laredo during a riot in which seven prisoners died.