Honduras prison massacre leaves over 40 women dead after grisly gang-related attack

On Wednesday (June 21), officials shared graphic details regarding a shocking crime that left dozens of women dead in a Tamara, Honduras prison. Per AP News, gang members are responsible for the deaths of multiple inmates after “spraying them with gunfire, hacking them with machetes and then locking survivors in their cells and dousing them with flammable liquid.”

President Xiomara Castro called the Tuesday (June 20) massacre “monstrous.” At least 46 women have been reported dead, and family members of the victims claimed the Barrio 18 gang in Honduras had been threatening the prisoners for weeks. It is still under investigation as to how the assailants made it past the facility’s guards. Authorities say the flames were so intense that the cell walls were blackened.

Miguel Martínez, a security ministry spokesman, considered the attack on the Honduras inmates “planned.” He shared that the gang’s break-in was recorded by the prison’s security cameras, but during the deadly takeover, the alleged Barrio 18 members destroyed the devices. “You can see the moment in which the women overcome the guards, leaving them helpless, and take their keys,” Martínez continued. Juan López Rochez, the chief of operations for the country’s National Police, added, “A group of armed people went to the cell block of a rival gang, locked the doors, [and] opened fire on them.”

Honduras’ President Castro believes the horrific incident was “planned by maras [street gangs] with the knowledge and acquiescence of security authorities.” She is working to understand how the intruders entered the prison with weapons in the first place and were able to freely move throughout the cell blocks. AP News revealed that 18 pistols, an assault rifle, two machine pistols and two grenades were found at the crime scene. “We are investigating all the employees at the center,” López Rochez asserted. None of the guards reported injuries.

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