Death Toll Soars in Prison Fire in Honduras
no way can this just be an accident. no way. not in a country with such incredible impunity.
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A fire at a prison in central Honduras killed more than 300 people, according to local news reports, the latest disaster in a penal system known for overcrowding and violence.
In 2003, a riot in a Honduran prison left 68 dead, 51 of them shot, stabbed, beaten or burned to death by police, soldiers or prison staff, according to a report by the government, which promised to revamp and improve the system.
But the following year, a fire, believed to have been caused by a short circuit, killed more than 100 prisoners in another overcrowded facility, most of them gang members.
Honduras has emerged as one of the most violent places in the Western hemisphere, increasingly overrun by drug traffickers and organized crime who use the country as a staging ground to bring cocaine from South America to the United States.
The government recently accepted the help of a technical team from the United States to address police corruption and other security problems.
