At least 13 people died during an uprising by armed inmates at a Honduran prison on Thursday, one of them decapitated and the others killed by a fire started by the rioters, authorities said.
Varying reports of local and national authorities said as many as 18 inmates were killed, but national police chief Jose Ramirez said only 13 bodies had been sent to the morgue by late afternoon.
The unrest came six weeks after a fire at another prison in Honduras killed 361 inmates.
Yair Mesa, police commissioner of the rough northern city of San Pedro Sula, said Thursday’s riot had been brought under control.
“The uprising has been put down without the need to fire shots,” Mr. Mesa said by telephone from inside the prison.
San Pedro Sula Bishop Romulo Emiliani arrived outside the prison, saying he had been asked to serve as a negotiator with the inmates.
Mr. Emiliani reflected the prevailing view that such tragedies are bound to recur in Honduras’ overcrowded prison system. The 800-bed San Pedro Sula prison was housing 2,400 prisoners, he said.
“Everybody has known for some time that the authorities have no interest in the prisons. They are a time bomb that will continue to explode,” the bishop said.
Mr. Mesa said most of the victims apparently died of burns or asphyxiation, but said the cause of death could not immediately be determined because the bodies were so badly burned.
