Clashes between rival gangs at a women’s prison in Honduras left at least 41 people dead Tuesday, police told AFP.
The violence took place at a prison some 25 kilometers (about 15 miles) north of the capital Tegucigalpa, according to police spokesman Edgardo Barahona, who put the “preliminary” toll at 41 women, though it was unclear if they were all inmates.
According to Delma Ordonez, who represents family members of the inmates, members of a gang had entered the cell of a rival group and set it on fire.
That part of the prison was “completely destroyed,” she told media.
The penitentiary held some 900 inmates, said Ordonez.
Deputy security minister Julissa Villanueva on her Twitter account vowed a tough response to the violence and announced a state of emergency as well as “immediate intervention with firefighters, police and military.”
