Prison fire in Chilean capital kills 83 inmates and injures 14

FIRE engulfed a prison in the Chilean capital yesterday, killing 83 inmates and critically injuring 14 others, the government said, in the worst-ever accident in the country’s jail system.

Officials said the fire was deliberately started during an early-morning fight between inmates in one of the crowded prison’s five towers. Television footage showed part of the San Miguel prison in flames, with black smoke billowing from the building.

Frantic relatives of the inmates flooded to the jail’s walls, screaming and imploring police to let them in to rescue their loved ones. Officials afterward began informing the families of those killed.

“It is a hugely painful tragedy,” President Sebastian Pinera said, confirming the death toll had risen to 83.

“We cannot guarantee the number of dead will not rise.”

Justice Minister Felipe Bulnes said the controversial prison housed 1,960 inmates, close to twice the 1,100 inmate capacity.

It was the latest in a string of disasters and accidents to hit Chile this year — including a devastating February earthquake and ensuing tsunamis, and a mine collapse that ultimately saw a happy ending when 33 miners were rescued after two months below ground.