Three inmates were killed, including at least one who was fatally shot, during a Honduran prison riot that also left seven prisoners and eight guards hurt, authorities have said.
A spokesman for the Honduras National Police said 400 officers and military troops dispatched to the San Pedro Sula prison to restore order were met by gunfire from within the facility, and they were pelted with stones and other projectiles yesterday.
Once order was finally restored, police said they confiscated assault rifles, automatic firearm ammunition and other munitions from inside the facility.
Bloodied and incapacitated inmates could be seen being taken out of the prison by emergency crews following the riot and clash with police.
The San Pedro Sula prison, located some 240 kilometres (150 miles) north of the capital city Tegucigalpa, was built for 1,300 inmates, but houses 2,900.
Officials said one of the deceased inmates died from a bullet wound to the head, but provided no immediate cause of death for the others.
President Juan Orlando Hernandez has ordered a crackdown against criminality in Honduras's prisons, where violence and gang activity is rampant.
He also ordered the removal to other facilities of about 20 of the most hardened criminals at San Pedro Sula prison, which officials said appeared to have precipitated yesterday's uprising.
