Honduras High-Security Prison Gang Brawl Results to 5 Deaths, 39 Injuries

After the gang brawl between members of gangs inside Honduras' high-security prison, judicial authorities confirmed that at least 5 individuals were killed and 39 others, including guards, were injured on Thursday.

Honduran Gang Brawl

Based on authorities, the gang brawl happened inside the high-security prison facility which houses not less than 1,500 inmates.

According to Reuters, the three-hour confrontation, started when members of the Barrio 18 gang entered a section that is only intended for members of the rival gang, Mara Salvatrucha 13, in the La Tolva prison east of Tegucigalpa. The brawl involved live ammunition and at least one grenade was thrown during the brutal incident.

Moreover, prosecutor Sara Gómez shared during an interview that out of the 39 injured individuals recorded, 13 of them are currently under serious condition.

Since the end of 2019, prisons in Honduras have been under the control of their military. The Honduran government tasked the country's military to secure the prisons as they were usually sites of frequent violence. The gang brawls were the results of disputes between members of the country's two largest street gangs and organized crime gangs.

A hospital in the capital of Honduras mentioned it had admitted 15 wounded individuals from the prison. After the news, hundreds of distraught relatives of prisoners gathered at the hospital and outside the prison to gather information about the status of their loved ones, Times of India reported.

Barrio 18 and MS-13

Based on the Honduran police, members of Barrio 18 and MS-13 control large areas on the outskirts of some cities in Honduras. Even rural areas were not safe because the gangs fight each other over territory for drug trafficking, weapons, auto theft, and other crimes.

Furthermore, in December 2019, 18 inmates also died during a gang dispute at a prison in Tela, a tourist city on the country's Atlantic coast. Three days after the dispute, authorities mentioned that another 19 people were killed during gang brawls at the El Porvenir prison, which is located 50 miles east of Tegucigalpa, The Sun reported.

But before the 2019 bloodshed, weeks prior, there had been a wave of violence inside Honduras' overcrowded prisons. The Observatory of Violence of the National Autonomous University of Honduras had recorded a total of 27 killings on three separate occasions. Multiple deaths inside prisons were witnessed in 2019 by the Honduran government.

After the brawl in 2019, the government immediately declared a state of emergency in the prison system, which prompted the government to transfer the facility control to the security forces.

There at least 25 overcrowded prisons in Honduras which house more than 22,000 inmates. Aside from not having enough space, human rights organizations have criticized the lack of food, unsanitary conditions, and corruption inside the high-security prisons.

The Communications Director for the prison system, Digna Aguilar, shared during the 2019 incidents that they were securing that everything will be recorded.

Meanwhile, prisoners inside the detention center were reportedly having a meal when several inmates attacked fellow detainees. The move sparked the 2019 gang brawls.

Also, Security spokesman Lieutenant Antonio Coello stated that the prisoners who were dead and wounded were attacked with bullets and sharp weapons. There have been shootouts inside Honduran prisons.

WATCH: How Gangs Control Honduras -from VICE News