(CNN Spanish) – At least three inmates died and 26 more were injured Thursday in a brawl at a maximum security prison in eastern Honduras, confirmed the National Penitentiary Institute.
The riots took place in the prison known as La Tolva, located in the Morocelí municipality, El Paraíso department, about 60 kilometers east of Tegucigalpa.
In La Tolva there are members of criminal groups such as MS 13, gang 18, drug traffickers and other criminals.
Digna Aguilar, spokeswoman for the National Penitentiary Institute, reported that this Friday 19 inmates, who were injured in the incident and remained hospitalized, will be discharged in the next few hours because they do not have serious injuries.
No prison officials or injured officers were reported.
Aguilar also added that the prison authorities have decreed a state of alert in the other prisons of the country and “security measures have been redoubled, especially in those establishments where there are members of criminal structures among the prison population.”
Aguilar said that they work with other entities to clarify the facts, determine those responsible and prosecute them criminally.
For his part, the Police Director of Investigations, Rommel Martínez, reported this Friday that a team of investigators is already working to clarify the death of the inmates.
-Elvin Sandoval contributed to this report.