Honduras prison riot – at least 41 women burned, shot or hacked to death after inferno breaks out in bathroom
At least 41 women were burned, shot or stabbed to death at a prison in Honduras after a violent clash broke out between rival gangs yesterday.
Police discovered 26 burnt corpses among the 41 dead after warring gangs sparked a fire in the bathroom that tore through the facility in a massacre that has "shocked" the country.
Inmates had reportedly complained for weeks they were being threatened by gang members at the women's prison.
On Tuesday, the gang fulfilled those alleged threats, slaughtering at least 41 women.
Twenty-six of the victims were burned to death and the remainder shot or stabbed, said Yuri Mora, a spokesman for Honduras national police investigation agency.
At least seven inmates were being treated at a Tegucigalpa hospital.
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The deadly violence occurred at a prison about 15 miles north of Honduras' capital of Tegucigalpa.
Hundreds of relatives of incarcerated women gathered outside the detention facility awaiting information about their loved ones.
"We don't know who the victims are," said one visibly distraught man.
Heavily armed soldiers and police were seen entering and guarding the prison, while teams of firefighters were also present.
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Footage released by the government from inside the prison showed several pistols and a heap of machetes and other bladed weapons that were found after the riot.
According to Delma Ordonez, who represents inmates' relatives, the CEFAS correctional facility in Tamara held about 900 inmates.
He said an investigation was underway to determine which gang launched the initial attack.
President Xiomara Castro wrote on Twitter that she was "shocked" by the "monstrous murder of women in CEFAS by gangs in full view and tolerance of security authorities".
She stated that the riot at the prison was planned by street gangs with the knowledge and acquiescence of security authorities.
A state of emergency was announced, and the president promised to take "take drastic measures" to hold security leaders to account.
Officials described the killings as a terrorist act, but also acknowledged that gangs essentially had ruled some parts of the prison.
Sandra Rodrguez Vargas, the assistant commissioner for Honduras' prison system, said that the attackers at around 8am removed guards at the facility and none appeared to have been injured.
They then allegedly opened the gates to an adjoining cell block and began massacring women there.
Vargas then claimed they started a fire that left cell walls blackened and bunks reduced to twisted heaps of metal.
Julissa Villanueva, head of the prison system, suggested the riot started because of recent attempts by authorities to crack down on illicit activity inside prison walls.
She called Tuesday's violence a reaction to moves we are taking against organized crime.
"We will not back down," Villanueva said in a televised address after the riot.
Gangs wield broad control inside the country's prisons, where inmates often set their own rules and sell prohibited goods.
It is also a recurring problem in Honduran prisons that they are often able to smuggle in guns and other weapons.
Drug trafficking groups and gang members are largely responsible for the soaring rate of homicides in Honduras, which at 40 murders per 100,000 inhabitants last year.
This was four times higher than the world average.
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The riot appears to be the deadliest at a female detention centre in Central America since 2017, when girls at a shelter for troubled youths in Guatemala set fire to mattresses to protest rapes and other mistreatment at the overcrowded institution.
The smoke and fire killed 41 girls.
