Honduras Prison Fire: Relatives Storm Morgue Demanding Inmates' Remains

The relative of one of the victims of the prison fire in Comayagua, struggles with soldiers attempting to reach piled plastic bags and look for the corpse of his beloved one, outside the Judicial Morgue premises, in Tegucigalpa. (Photo by ORLANDO SIERRA/AFP/Getty Images)

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — Hundreds of relatives of inmates who burned or suffocated to death when a fire raged through a Honduran prison forced their way into a morgue Monday to demand the remains of loved ones.

The group of women and some men pushed into the morgue, broke into a refrigerated container and opened at least six body bags, prosecutors spokesman Melvin Duarte said.

Police used tear gas to chase the people from the morgue, Duarte said. He said no one was injured during the confrontation in Tegucigalpa, although at least one woman fainted.

The fire in a crowded prison last week in the city of Comayagua killed at least 359 prisoners. There were 852 inmates at the prison built to hold less than half that.

Duarte said the crowd got upset after seeing some bodies being laid on the street and then people burst into the morgue.

"The bodies were about to be loaded onto a truck to be transferred to the medical school to continue with the process of identification," Duarte said.

Hundreds of people have been waiting outside the morgue for their relatives' remains since the fire a week ago. A team of forensic doctors from across Latin America has identified 32 bodies so far. Of those, 16 have been turned over to their families.

Comments

[Henssis1]

12:41 AM on 02/22/2012

That has to be one of the worse ways to die and that is to burn to death...

[jbeachboy32]

11:00 PM on 02/21/2012

has this ever happened in america?

[No7]

10:21 PM on 02/21/2012

...."no!, not that one"...."that's the ashtray!".....

[Nanna652]

09:40 PM on 02/21/2012

There is this thing called DNA people...match the deceased to the Person claming them...DUUHHHHH

[Christian Mills]

12:01 AM on 02/22/2012

DNA doesn't exactly work like that. First, the family has to be willing to give a DNA sample, and for the best accuracy, both the parents have to be alive and willing to be tested. Second, all 359 victims (minus those identified) also need to be tested. Assuming that 350 victims need to be tested, plus their parents, you're looking at 1050 DNA sequencing tests, which cost money, take a fair amount of time and manpower, and can fail for no reason.

This is Honduras, even American wouldn't pay for all those tests. If this tragedy happened in Canada, we might get some results.

[natal plum]

07:26 PM on 02/21/2012

Ummmmm friends and family, we have a bit of a problem here at the morgue. Please feel free to come and help identify the remains and put some of the pieces back together

[Zatara]

09:24 AM on 02/21/2012

This story is playing on the overly dramatic. The Honduran government believes some people will claim a body claiming it's their family member just to cover-up for an escapee. Over 80 to 100 violent criminals escaped from the prison. The corpses that are't burnt beyond recognition are being identified and delivered to family members.

[Richard Chan]

10:33 AM on 02/21/2012

You've got 359 people or more who died needlessly in shameful conditions, families outraged naturally as a result, and you can't show an ounce of sympathy for them. At least the guys who died won't be escaping, we can all celebrate that.

[spongeworthy06]

05:44 PM on 02/21/2012

he just made a rational assessment

[Albert Mejia]

12:26 PM on 02/21/2012

I bet you family member are not in know prison system where you from ?

[AngryHarpy]

03:42 AM on 02/21/2012

Just sad on so many levels.