At least 41 people were killed in a prison riot in a women's prison in Honduras on Tuesday, which the government blamed on gang violence in reprisal for its efforts to combat corruption in detention centers.
According to Yuri Mora, a public prosecutor's office spokesperson, authorities are trying to identify the victims at the Centro Femenino de Adaptacion Social, a 900-person women's prison some 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the capital Tegucigalpa.
According to Mora, the majority of those deceased were shot while some were burned to death.
Seven additional patients were being treated in a state hospital, informed a hospital spokesperson.
As per President Xiomara Castro, gang members arranged the violence with the knowledge of the guards.
"I will take drastic measures," she said on Twitter.
Ramon Antonio Sabillon, the security minister, was replaced by Gustavo Sanchez, the chief of the national police, late on Tuesday. Sabillon was then transferred to the diplomatic service.
More measures will be announced Wednesday, Castro's office said, to "combat organized crime and dismantle the boycott against security fostered from inside prisons."
According to Julissa Villanueva, director of the criminal justice system, the disturbance was probably a response to the government's recent assault on corruption in jails.
A panel that was established earlier this year has conducted prison raids to seize authority from strong gangs and remove corrupt security personnel.
Late on Tuesday, relatives of inmates gathered outside the prison to inquire about the whereabouts of their loved ones.
"I'm looking for information about what happened to my daughter, but they still haven't informed us," a woman who identified herself as Ligia Rodriguez said in an interview with Honduras' Channel 3 television station.
There have apparently been 18 convicts murdered in a gang fight in a prison in Honduras in 2019, and more than 350 people perished in a fire there in 2012.
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