A 23-year old inmate at Kern Valley State Prison died from several stab wounds sustained during a Wednesday riot involving 38 inmates on the prison's maximum security facility.

Inmate Oscar Cruz was transported by ambulance to an outside hospital where he was pronounced dead at 8:26 p.m., the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said in a release.

Cruz arrived to the prison from Los Angeles County on Jan. 21, 2005 with a 37-year sentence for first-degree robbery with the use of a firearm and gang enhancements.

The riot occurred at approximately 3:20 p.m. on Wednesday at the prison's Facility B maximum security general population yard.

Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation spokeswoman Terry Thornton says the cause of the fight is under investigation. No employees were injured.

Correctional officers used lethal munitions, pepper spray and multiple direct impact rubber rounds to quell the incident. A correctional officer also discharged five rounds from the mini-14 rifle.

Four inmates had been shot by guards and two others suffered stab wounds. They are expected to survive. Several inmates were bruised by blunt projectiles fired by prison guards.

A total of 16 inmates were injured, one fatally. They were initially treated in the prison's Correctional Treatment Center and transported to outside hospitals for further medical treatment. Four were struck with lethal rounds. Three suffered stab wounds. Another three suffered injuries from the direct impact rounds. The remainder suffered bruises and abrasions from the fight. Their injuries are not considered life-threatening at this time.

The prison recovered four inmate-made weapons from the scene. The prison's Investigative Services Unit is investigating the cause of the riot. They are also working closely with the Kern County District Attorneys Office, the Office of the Inspector General and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Deadly Force Investigation Team, according to the CDCR release.

Kern Valley State Prison, one of two state prisons located in Delano, is a maximum security prison that houses minimum- and maximum-security inmates.

Approximately 4,700 inmates are housed there and the prison employs about 1,700 people. Design capacity at the Level IV facility is 2,448. It consists of four semi-autonomous 180 designed facilities and two stand alone administrative segregation units, all surrounded by a lethal electrified perimeter fence.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.