Six children and mothers were among at least 28 people killed on a bus by gunmen claiming to be members of a Honduran revolutionary group opposed to the death penalty.

Unknown gunmen opened fire on a public bus in northern Honduras late yesterday, killing at least 23 passengers and wounding 16 others, apparently many women and children, police said.

More than 100 Honduran gang members perished after a short-circuit started a fire that tore through an overcrowded prison block.