Families clash with police after 350 killed in Honduras prison fire
- 12 years ago
ROUGH CUT - NO REPORTER NARRATION
STORY: Weeping relatives clashed with police outside the Comayagua prison on Wednesday (February 15) as they awaited updates about casualties after a massive fire killed at least 357 people, many of them inmates trapped inside thei cells.
Some relatives began throwing rocks at police and tried to force thier way into the prison. Police responded by firing shots into the air and tear gas at the protestors, who weremostly women.
The attorney general's office said 357 people died in the blaze that began late on Tuesday (February 14) at the prison in Comayagua, about 75 kilometers (45 miles) north of the capital Tegucigalpa.
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.
STORY: Weeping relatives clashed with police outside the Comayagua prison on Wednesday (February 15) as they awaited updates about casualties after a massive fire killed at least 357 people, many of them inmates trapped inside thei cells.
Some relatives began throwing rocks at police and tried to force thier way into the prison. Police responded by firing shots into the air and tear gas at the protestors, who weremostly women.
The attorney general's office said 357 people died in the blaze that began late on Tuesday (February 14) at the prison in Comayagua, about 75 kilometers (45 miles) north of the capital Tegucigalpa.
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.