A fire spread through a Honduras prison as inmates were trapped in their cells, killing at least 300 on Wednesday. The fire erupted on Tuesday evening at a prison in Comayagua. Josue Garcia, a spokesman for the Comayagua fire department, reported that he saw “horrific” scenes while trying to put out the fire and inmates went into an uproar as they attempted to escape the heat. Garcia said, “We couldn’t get them out because we didn’t have the keys and couldn’t find the guards who had them.” Prisoners burned to death or suffocated in their cells.
The chief of forensic medicine for the prosecutor’s office, Lucy Marder said, “The majority could be dead, though others could have suffered burns, escaped or survived.” Officials are in the process of investigating if the fire was triggered by prisoners or an electrical short-circuit, according to Danilo Orellana, head of the national prison system. Marder reported it will take at least three months to identify victims for families because some inmates are burned beyond recognition and DNA tests will be required.
