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At least 41 inmates were killed in Women's Centre for Social Adaptation prison in Honduras, a spokesperson from the public prosecutors' office said on Tuesday, after an apparent prison riot.
Authorities are working to identify the bodies at the Centro Femenino de Adaptacion Social, a 900-person women's penitentiary around 20 kilometers from the capital city Tegucigalpa, Reuters reported, adding that some had died from burns, while others had been shot.
At least seven female inmates were being treated at a Tegucigalpa hospital for gunshot and knife wounds, employees there said.
Delma Ordonez, the president of an association for prisoners' families, said that a brawl had broken out at the prison in the early hours of Tuesday between members of rival gangs Barrio 18 and the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), according to Reuters.
Honduran President Xiomara Castro said the riot was "planned by maras with the knowledge and acquiescence of security authorities."
"I am going to take drastic measures!" Castro wrote on her social media accounts.
(Cover: Prison guards guard inmates of the Women's Center for Social Adaptation prison following a brawl between inmates in Tamara, Honduras, June 20, 2023. /CFP)
(With input from agencies)