CANCUN, Mexico – More than 100 prisoners escaped Friday from a state penitentiary a few miles from Cancun's resort zone after hundreds of inmates overpowered guards with knives and bats.

Police quickly recaptured most of the men, but there were still 17 at large by late Friday, the state press office said.

Guards shot and killed three inmates during the riot, said Red Cross official Ricardo Portugal, who received the bodies. Several prisoners and guards were wounded.

Several hundred inmates attacked guards to stop the transfer of alleged gang leader Marcos Gallegos to another penitentiary more than 200 miles to the south, said prison director Juvenal Reyes.

Gallegos, otherwise known as “the Cowboy or “the Godfather,” is serving 17 years for raping minors, he said. The gang leader, who had been among 38 prisoners scheduled to be transferred, was not among those who escaped.

The rioting sent hundreds of soldiers and police rushing to the penitentiary 10 miles north of Cancun's resort zone. Most of the prison was under control within hours.