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Shootout kills 13 inmates in Honduras
(AP)
Updated: 2006-01-06 08:38
A shootout between inmates at Honduras' biggest prison left at least 13
inmates dead and another 30 wounded Thursday, officials said.
The confrontation began at the National Penitentiary on the outskirts of
Tegucigalpa, the capital. Honduran Security Minister Armando Calidonio said
police and guards were working to restore control.
"The confrontation was between two rival groups of prisoners who fired shots
at each other in a territorial dispute," Calidonio told The Associated Press.
He said officials were investigating how inmates had guns in the National
Penitentiary.
Honduras' overcrowded, aging prisons have frequently been the scene of riots
and fights between inmates — especially members of rival street gangs.
Nearly 600 prisoners rioted at the same facility in 2004 to protest the
transfer of four of their leaders to another facility. No injuries were reported
in that incident.
In 2004, a fire broke out in a cell block housing 182 gang inmates, killing
more than 100 inmates.
Firefighters said the flames were sparked by overheated electrical cables
from the more than 75 domestic appliances the prisoners had been using.
Survivors of the fire claimed it was set deliberately by rival gang
members.
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