Dozens of inmates killed in Burundi prison fire, says government

Security forces and others gather at the scene (AP)

Thirty-eight prisoners have been killed in a fire in Burundi, the government said.

Vice President Prosper Bazombanza announced the deaths following the blaze in Gitega, the country’s political capital, on Tuesday morning.

More than 60 other people had been injured and the death toll could rise.

The prison in Gitega is overcrowded with more than 1,500 inmates in cells designed to hold 400, according to local reports.