{"id":25536,"date":"2023-06-21T10:00:48","date_gmt":"2023-06-21T14:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/?p=25536"},"modified":"2023-06-24T20:42:59","modified_gmt":"2023-06-25T00:42:59","slug":"honduras-prison-violence-at-least-41-killed-in-womens-jail-riot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/2023\/06\/21\/honduras-prison-violence-at-least-41-killed-in-womens-jail-riot\/","title":{"rendered":"Honduras prison violence: At least 41 killed in women’s jail riot"},"content":{"rendered":"
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At least 41 people have been killed in a riot at a women’s prison in Honduras on Tuesday.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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It is understood that a fight broke out between rival gangs, after which one gang set a cell alight.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Officials say most of those who died were killed in the fire but others were shot, stabbed or beaten to death.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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An investigation is under way to determine how the inmates managed to smuggle automatic weapons and machetes into the jail.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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President Xiomara Castro, who last year launched a crackdown on gangs, said on social media that she was “shocked by the monstrous murder of women” and would take “drastic measures” in response.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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She has dismissed Security Minister Ram\u00f3n Sabill\u00f3n and replaced him with the head of the national police force, Gustavo S\u00e1nchez.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Survivors of the deadly incident told local media that it was triggered by rivalries between two of Central America’s most notorious criminal organisations: the 18th Street Gang and MS-13.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"The<\/picture><\/span><\/div>
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Relatives gathered outside the jail desperate for news of their loved ones (Image: Reuters)<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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They said members of one gang had been taunting their rivals, who then set fire to the mattresses in the cell holding those taunting them.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Videos posted on social media showed a huge cloud of grey smoke rising from the women’s prison, which is located about 25km north of the capital, Tegucigalpa, and holds approximately 900 inmates.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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While the warring factions are locked up in different parts of the jail, the wings are located close to each other.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The unrest broke out early in the morning local time on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Survivors said that many of those who died had been seeking refuge from the flames in a bathroom. Their burnt bodies were found piled on top of each other.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Others were shot dead and stabbed by gang members in the corridors and a prison courtyard.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Some of the victims are not thought to have been linked to either of the two gangs but were caught up in the incident.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Among them is a former police cadet who was serving a 15-year prison sentence after confessing to killing a fellow police officer.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Another of those killed was only days away from being released after serving her sentence for kidnapping.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Honduras is known for corruption and gang violence, which have infiltrated government institutions and seen the homicide rate soar.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Along with neighbours El Salvador and Guatemala, the country is a major transit route for cocaine coming from South America to the United States.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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It also has a history of deadly prison riots, which are often linked to organised crime.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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At least\u00a018 people were killed in gang violence<\/a>\u00a0at a prison in the northern port city of Tela in 2019.<\/p>\n

Source: bbc.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At least 41 people have been killed in a riot at a women’s prison in Honduras on Tuesday. It is understood that a fight broke out between rival gangs, after which one gang set a […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25568,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,6],"tags":[9529,3472,7000,2368,6502],"class_list":{"0":"post-25536","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"category-world","9":"tag-18th-street-gang","10":"tag-honduras","11":"tag-ms-13","12":"tag-prison-riots","13":"tag-tegucigalpa","14":"pmpro-has-access"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25536","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25536"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25536\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25539,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25536\/revisions\/25539"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25568"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25536"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25536"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25536"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}