Honduras: At least 41 women killed in prison after riots World News

Most of the victims were burned to death, according to police. Officials said the unrest could be linked to corruption or gang control within the prison.

A Honduran police official said at least 41 people were killed in a riot at a women’s prison in Honduras, most of whom were burned to death.

Authorities found 25 charred bodies and were working to identify them, a spokesman said.

Inmates were also reportedly shot at at the Centro Femenino de Adaptacion Social (CEFAS) prison in the town of Tamara, 30 miles from the capital Tegucigalpa.

At least seven prisoners were taken to Tegucigalpa Hospital with gunshot and knife wounds, employees there said.

Julissa Villanueva, head of the Honduran prison system, said the unrest was “the result of an operation [authorities were] Combating Organized Crime”.

Ms Villanueva said after the incident “we will not back down”.

The unrest may also be linked to corruption or gang control within the prison, officials said.

Gangs often have significant influence in the country’s prisons, where inmates make their own rules and sell contraband.

The unrest appears to be the worst tragedy at a women’s detention center in the region since 2017, when girls at a Guatemalan troubled youth shelter set fire to mattresses in protest of rape and other abuse at the overcrowded facility.