Officials: Honduras prison fire kills 357

Orlando Sierra / AFP - Getty Images

Anxious relatives of inmates wait outside the National Prison of Comayagua, after a fire killed scores of inmates.

By msnbc.com staff and news services

Updated at 11:05 a.m. ET: TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras -- Trapped inmates screamed from their cells as a fire swept through a Honduran prison, killing at least 300 inmates in the world's deadliest prison fire in at least a century, authorities said Wednesday.

Some 475 people escaped from the prison in the town of Comayagua and 356 were missing and presumed dead, Hector Ivan Mejia, a spokesman for the Honduras Security Ministry, told The Associated Press.?

Dozens were trapped behind bars as prison authorities tried to find the keys, according to the AP.? Honduran authorities said the fire had been started by a prisoner who set his mattress ablaze in his cell.

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Reuters earlier reported that the attorney general's office said at least 357 people died in the blaze that began late on Tuesday night at the prison some 45 miles north of the capital Tegucigalpa.

'Want to see the body'
On Wednesday, soldiers, police and anxious relatives surrounded the Comayagua prison, which housed more than 800 inmates -- well above its capacity.

Over 300 inmates are missing and presumed dead after a large fire strikes a prison in Comayagua, Honduras. NBC's Frances Kuo reports.

Outraged relatives of dead inmates tried to storm the gates of the prison to recover the remains of their loves ones, witnesses told The Associated Press. The crowds were driven back by police officers firing tear gas.

Channel 5 television showed dozens of inmates' relatives hurling rocks at officers.

"We want to see the body," said Juan Martinez, whose son was reported dead. "We'll be here until we get to do that."

Survivors told prisoners that an inmate had lit fire to his bedding, Danilo Orellana, director of the national prison system, told The Associated Press.

"Some of his cellmates said that he screamed: 'We will all die here!' And in five minutes everything burned," Orellana said. He did not identify the man or speculate about his motivation. Leonel Silva, fire chief in Comayagua confirmed Orellana's account to reporters on the scene.

"I am looking for my brother, we don't know what's happened to him and they won't let us in," Arlen Gomez told local radio, according to Reuters.

It was one of the worst prison fires ever in Latin America, and local radio reports said many of the inmates were burned to death inside their cells.

While local firemen said they were prevented from entering the prison due to gunshots, Daniel Orellana, head of the prison system, said there was no riot.

Orlando Sierra / AFP - Getty Images

Firefighters enter the prison after the fire broke out late Tuesday.

"We have two hypotheses, one is that a prisoner set fire to a mattress and the other one is that there was a short circuit in the electrical system," he said.

Honduras has the highest murder rate in the world, according to the United Nations, and there are frequent riots and clashes between members of rival street gangs in its overcrowded prisons.?

The country is plagued by violent gangs known as "maras," which started in the United States and then spread down into Central America, with members covered in distinctive tattoos.

The U.S. State Department has criticized Honduras for "harsh prison conditions" and violence against detainees.

Bodies 'piled up'
Comayagua fire department spokesman Josue Garcia said he saw "horrific" scenes while trying to put out the fire, saying inmates rioted in attempts to escape. He said "some 100 prisoners were burned to death or suffocated in their cells."

"We couldn't get them out because we didn't have the keys and couldn't find the guards who had them," Garcia said.

Rescuers carried shirtless, semi-conscious prisoners from the facility by their arms and legs. One hauled a victim away from the fire by piggyback.

The fire broke out at 10:55 p.m. local time (11:55 p.m. ET) in the prison, called Granja Penal, Josue Garcia, a spokesman for the Comayagua fire department said, according to EFE news agency.

A nurse at the Santa Teresa Hospital in Comayagua earlier told journalists that about 30 prisoners, many with third- or fourth-degree burns, had been treated at the hospital, according to EFE. Other wounded people were sent to hospitals in Tegucigalpa, EFE said.

Some of the prisoners managed to get out by breaking through the prison's roof and jumping off the building, EFE said.?

Msnbc.com staff, Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Source: http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/15/10413015-officials-honduras-prison-fire-kills-357

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