00:00 Ready to intervene, these members of the Honduran National Police were deployed to secure a
00:05 women's prison near the capital Tegucigalpa. A brawl had broken out earlier on Tuesday
00:10 between rival gangs at the prison, which houses around 900 female inmates. The authorities
00:15 have suggested that the incident started because of recent attempts by the authorities to crack
00:20 down on organised crime in prisons.
00:23 "Undoubtedly, what happened today, at this unfortunate moment, is the product of a direct
00:31 attack by organised crime, against the actions that we are deliberately carrying out to combat
00:37 organised crime."
00:42 She said the incident was a direct attack against the government of President Xiomara
00:46 Castro.
00:48 When she came to power in early 2022, Castro vowed to fix the country's woes and focus
00:53 on security. In December, as part of a crackdown on gangs, she implemented a partial state
00:59 of emergency in pockets of the country's largest cities. In April, hundreds of soldiers
01:04 were deployed across the country as part of a plan to fight criminal gangs.
01:09 Back at the prison, relatives of the inmates waited for news of their loved ones. It's
01:14 still unclear if all those who died were prisoners. The public prosecutor's office has opened
01:19 an investigation to determine which gang initiated the brawl.
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