Honduras Prison Fire Kills 355 Inmates

Honduras Prison Fire Kills 355 Inmates

A horrific fire broke out in the Honduras prison, killing at least 300 prisoners.  According to a Honduran government report, the detainees who died in the Honduran prison fire, which numbered up to 355, had been locked inside the overcrowded jail.

The fire burned and suffocated screaming inmates in their locked cells as rescuers frantically searched for keys. The number of dead prisoners reached up to 355 Thursday afternoon, according to attorney general's spokesman Melvin Duarte, marking it the world's tragic prison fire in the century.

Survivors of the horrific tragedy related stories of their climbing walls to break the sheet metal roofing in order to escape, only to find other prisoners being burned alive. Worst, there were inmates who were found stuck to the roofing, their bodies fused to the metal.

Local firefighters received a call at 10:59 p.m. but the rescue was totally marred by human errors and conditions that made the rescue operations almost impossible to implement.

According to some reports, there were approximately 800 prisoners in a facility built for 500. There were only as few as 51 guards by day and worst in number to only up to 12 at night when the accident happened.

The prison facility had no medical or mental health care as the budget of less than $1 per prisoner per day would not suffice.

Danilo Orellana, the National prison system director, declined to give his comment regarding the absence of the rightful supervision or the crowded conditions in Comayagua.

On Wednesday, President Porfirio Lobo suspended Danilo Orellana and other prison officials in line with the horrible incident.

Burned walls beyond recognition and debris were found through six barracks that had housed 70 to 105 inmates each in four-level bunk beds.

Dead bodies of prisoners were found piled up in bathrooms where they apparently ran to turn on the showers hoping to save themselves from blistering fires.  They were found curled up in the sinks, clutching each other as though they could save themselves.

Posted by James Fried on Saturday February 18 2012, 5:42 AM EST. Ref: CNN. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, World. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0