Shoot-out between prisoners kills 13 inmates

A bloody clash between rival groups inside Honduras’ biggest prison has left 13 inmates dead and one severely wounded, in the latest violence to hit the country’s overcrowded and ageing jails, authorities said today.

Yesterday’s armed fight came inside a cellblock housing 400 of the most dangerous prisoners doing time at the National Penitentiary, where least 27 inmates were murdered in 2005, most by their cellmates.

“The confrontation was between two rival groups of prisoners who fired shots at each other in a territorial dispute,” Honduran Security Minister Armando Calidonio said.

He said the “confusion of the moment” resulted in erroneous reports by authorities of up to 30 wounded.

Calidonio said officials had yet to determine how inmates got guns into the prison located on the outskirts of Tegucigalpa but said police are “intensively investigating” the clash.

The clash did not appear to involve the feared “Mara” street gangs who have taken part in violent prison riots in the past.