Fire in Overcrowded Comayagua Prison Kills 377

You wouldn't have congestion like that in a dog pound, it's so bad -- and very little ventilation, so I can imagine a lot of the guys died from smoke inhalation.

-Ron W. Nikkel, Prison Fellowship International

Honduras Weekly
Some 377 people died of smoke inhalation or were burned to death at the penitentiary in Comayagua following a fire that broke out at the overcrowded facility last night at about 10:50 pm. According to Hector Ivan Mejia, a spokesperson for Honduras' Ministry of Security, said that at least 377 inmates are missing and presumed dead, and more than 448 are believed to have escaped. Mr. Mejia said that 21 people have been injured. The exact cause of the blaze has not been confirmed, but early reports suggest the possibility of a short in an electrical circuit or that the fire may have been deliberately set by rioting prisoners. Some survivors told investigators that they saw one of the prisoners set fire to his mattress. The director of the national prison system, Danilo Orellana, told the Associated Press that the prison housed felons convicted of murder, armed robbery, and other serious crimes.

Indications are that all but four of the people killed were inmates. The police reported that three of the dead were woman who had stayed at the prison overnight. According to local media, the chief of the city's fire department also died. The bodies of the victims have been transported to the Hospital Escuela in Tegucigalpa, 90 miles southeast of Comayagua. Medical forensics experts at the hospital are attempting to determine the identity of bodies.

A total of 852 inmates are believed to have been held in the prison, built in the 1940s and designed to accommodate 400. There are 24 prisons in Honduras which have a capacity of 8,000 but currently hold 13,000 prisoners.

Human Rights Watch this afternoon called on the Honduran government to overhaul its prison system. “The tragic deaths of hundreds of inmates, one of the worst incidents of its kind in the region, are ultimately the result of overcrowding and poor prison conditions, two longstanding problems in Honduras,” said José Miguel Vivanco, Americas director at Human Rights Watch. “Given that Honduras has one of the highest homicide rates in the world, authorities have been locking up convicted and suspected criminals, but failing to address the conditions in which they are being held.”

CNN quoted Ron W. Nikkel, president of Prison Fellowship International, as saying that the Comayagua prison is the worst he had seen in Honduras. "It's horrifically overcrowded. The bunks are sometimes five, six, seven tiers high, with the lowest person on the totem pole sleeping underneath the bunk on the bottom," he told CNN. "You wouldn't have congestion like that in a dog pound, it's so bad -- and very little ventilation, so I can imagine a lot of the guys died from smoke inhalation."

The last major prison fire in Honduras occurred on May 17, 2004 in San Pedro Sula. One hundred and seven prisoners died in that incident. On April 5, 2003, 66 inmates and three women lost their lives in a prison fire in the town of El Porvenir near La Ceiba. That fire was believed to have been started as a result of a fight between between members of opposing gangs.

The city of Comayagua is home to Soto Cano Air Base (also known as Palmerola). About 500 United States military personnel, along with transport aircraft and helicopters, are stationed at the base as part US Southern Command's Joint Task Force-Bravo. (2/15/12) (photo of relatives of inmates courtesy Internet)