Honduras jail: Reuters reports that 41 people have died in jail violence in Honduras. The Honduran government says these deaths are due to a gang war in a jail located 12 miles from Tegucigalpa. There are 900 inmates in this women-only jail.
Yuri Mora, spokesperson for the public prosecutor’s office said that authorities are trying to identify the victims of the Tuesday violence.
Mora said that most of the people killed were burned to death. Others were shot.
A hospital spokesperson said that seven people have been admitted to a state hospital.
Honduran President Xiomara Castro said the violence was planned by gang members and the prison guards knew about the impending violence. Promising that she will take drastic measures, the President shifted the security minister Ramon Antonio to the foreign affairs ministry.
National police head Gustavo Sanchez has replaced Antonio as the next interior security minister.
Castro’s office promised more tough measures “to combat organized crime and dismantle the boycott against security fostered from inside prisons.”
Reaction to a government crackdown
Julissa Villaneuva, head of the penal system says “The riot was likely in reaction to a government crackdown in recent months on corruption within prisons.”
Earlier this year, a commission formed by the government raided several prisons to wrest control of jails from the powerful gangs. Several corrupt security guards were punished by the commission.
History of prison violence
The Central American nation has a history of prison violence.
In 2019, 18 prisoners died in a gang war. In yet another gruesome incident in 2012, 361 jail inmates died in a fire. This fire was lit by a matchstick, possibly according to India Today.
The Tuesday riot appears to be the worst tragedy since 2017 in Central America when smoke and fire killed 41 inmates in a shelter home for troubled youths in Guatemala.
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