Riots at a Honduras prison have left at least 46 women dead – many burned to death. Rival gangs are apparently responsible for the outbreak of violence.
Authorities have found dozens of bodies in Tamara women’s prison, some 50 km northwest of the Honduran capital Tegucigalpa, after Tuesday’s violence.
According to national police spokeswoman Yuri Mora, some of the victims have been shot and at least seven female detainees are being treated for gunshot and knife wounds at a hospital in Tegucigalpa, staff there said.
Gangs turned on each other
Organized crime was behind the incident, Deputy Security Minister Julissa Villanueva said. According to media reports, the fire broke out on Tuesday morning (local time) after fighting between rival youth gangs Pandilla 18 and Mara Salvatrucha.
Cutting weapons are also said to have been used in the fighting. Relatives desperately gathered in front of the prison, waiting for information.
Violence has occurred in several prisons in Honduras in recent weeks. The government of left-wing President Xiomara Castro recently appointed a special commission to deal with the prison crisis.
“We Won’t Give In”
Julissa Villanueva, the country’s head of prisons, suggested the uprising stemmed from authorities’ recent attempts to crack down on illegal activity in the prisons. She described Tuesday’s violence as a result of “measures we are taking against organized crime”.
“We will not back down,” Villanueva said in a televised speech after the riots. Gangs often exercise deep control in the country’s prisons, where inmates often make their own rules and sell banned goods.
Source: Krone
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