A total of 41 people are said to have died and several have been injured as a result of a riot on Tuesday in a women’s prison in Honduras, reports Reuters.
The riot broke out at the Centro Femenino de Adaptación Social (CEFAS), a women’s facility in Támara, located about 25 kilometers from the Honduran capital, Tegucigalpa. To deal with the situation, Honduran authorities have declared a state of emergency and deployed a special operation with police, military and firefighters.
“We will not tolerate vandalism or irregularities in this prison,” writes Julissa Villanueva, Honduran Deputy Security Minister, on Twitter.
25 were burned to death
Some of those killed were shot dead while others were burned to death. Honduran authorities found, among other things, 25 charred bodies that they are trying to identify.
According to a preliminary report, the fight was about a gang showdown between inmates in Mara Salvatucha MS-13 and in Pandilla 18, reports La Tribuna. Fellow members of one gang allegedly set fire to the other gang’s cell. Villagers must have heard cries for help. A total of around 900 prisoners are at the institution.
History of prison riots
There is a history of deadly prison incidents in Honduras. In 2020, a riot occurred at a women’s prison in which six inmates were killed. In 2019, a gang fight at a correctional facility killed 18 inmates, and over 350 died in a 2012 facility fire.