Hundreds Killed In Honduras Prison Fire

TEGUCIGALPA – A huge fire swept through a prison in Honduras, Latin America, killing at least 357 people. Many of those who died in the blaze were inmates trapped in their cells.

The fire broke out late Tuesday night in the overcrowded prison in Comayagua, situated about 45 miles north of Honduras’ capital city Tegucigalpa.

More than 800 prisoners were housed at the jailhouse at the time of the fire, which is almost double the allowed maximum capacity of jail mates to be kept in Comayagua.

When news spread about the fire, relatives of inmates quickly gathered outside the prison hoping to get in and find their loved ones.

“I am looking for my brother, we don’t know what’s happened to him and they won’t let us in,” Arlen Gomez told local radio.

“My brother is on floor six,” said Glenda Mejia. “They told us that everyone on that floor is dead.”

“This is hopeless. They don’t want to tell us anything. I think my husband is dead,” said Gregoria Zelaya.

The local radio announced that many inmates were burned to death inside their cells.

“In the cells there are more than 100 charred bodies.”

Despite gunshots could be heard be fired inside the prison, Daniel Orellana, head of the prison system, said there were no riots. He blames the fire on one of two scenarios.

“We have two hypotheses, one is that a prisoner set fire to a mattress and the other one is that there was a short circuit in the electrical system,” he said.

According to the United Nations, Honduras has the highest murder rate in the world. There are frequent riots and clashes between members of rival street gangs in its overcrowded prisons.

The Comayagua prison fire is considered to be one of the worst in Latin America.

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