ATTICA, N.Y. — This week marks 49 years since the deadly riot within the walls of Attica Prison in Wyoming County.

Several families gathered at the state facility Sunday to remember the lives lost. 

Among those in attendance were survivors and family members of those killed, who tell Spectrum News that they have created their own sort of family.

"There's a commonality that only these 53 families can really relate to. Having your father held hostage in a riot for five days in the 1970s isn't all that normal. That's just not what you see," said Deanne Quinn Miller of Forgotten Victims of Attica.

33 prisoners and ten corrections officers died in the 1971 uprising, which lasted for several days before police and the National Guard regained control of the facility.