Honduran police reported that at least 41 people were killed in a riot at a women’s prison 20 kilometers from the capital, Tegucigalpa. Police found 25 charred bodies. A fire could have broken out during the riots.
Police confirmed earlier reports of a prison riot. Authorities expect the death toll to rise.
According to local media, the fire started after a fight between members of rival gangs.
Deputy Security Minister Julissa Villanueva declared a “state of emergency” on Twitter and denounced the vandalism.
The head of the families of those arrested, Dalma Ordonez, told local media that members of a feminist group set fire to a rival gang’s cell. The building where the victims died “was completely destroyed. I was reduced to ashes,” she said. The prison houses about 900 women.
Many police and military personnel were deployed around the prison as relatives of the detainees crowded to obtain information.
Honduras has a history of fatal incidents in prisons. In 2019, 18 inmates died fighting in a prison, and in 2012 more than 350 inmates died in a fire.
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