41 women brutally killed in gang fight at Honduran jail

Nepal Views

Kathmandu:At least 41 people have been killed in a riot at a women’s prison in Honduras on Tuesday.

The horrific violence took place on Tuesday, in the town of Tamara, on the outskirts of the Central American country’s capital Tegucigalpa. It is understood that a fight broke out between rival gangs, after which one gang set a cell alight.

The majority of victims died because of the fire while others were killed with guns or knives. A group of seven are still receiving medical treatment.

Officials say attackers ‘removed’ them from the prison at 8am and then began massacring women and starting fires, the assistant commissioner for the nation’s prison system Sandra Rodriguez Vargas said.

None of the guards appeared to be hurt and there are no reports of any of them needing hospital treatment. Weapons including guns, machetes and other types of blades were found inside the prison after the riot.

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.

She has dismissed Security Minister Ramón Sabillón and replaced him with the head of the national police force, Gustavo Sánchez.