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From the BBC News:

Many of the victims were burned or suffocated to death in their cells at the jail in Comayagua, in central Honduras.

Families flocked to the site, desperate for news. Some prisoners escaped the blaze by breaking through the roof to jump from the building, they said.

Officials are investigating whether an electrical fault caused the blaze.

The fire broke out late on Tuesday night and took more than an hour to be brought under control.

Dozens of prisoners died trapped in their cells and were burned beyond recognition.

Comayagua firefighters’ spokesman Josue Garcia said there were “hellish” scenes at the prison and that desperate inmates had rioted in a bid to escape the flames.

“We couldn’t get them out because we didn’t have the keys and couldn’t find the guards who had them,” he said.

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