Honduras families seek answers after prison riot leaves many dead

Honduran authorities are investigating a reported prison riot that left at least 41 women dead on Tuesday. The president of an association for prisoners' families, Delma Ordonez, told Reuters that a brawl had broken out at the prison in Tamara in the early hours of Tuesday between members of rival gangs Barrio 18 and the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13). President Xiomara Castro said she was shocked by what she described as the 'monstrous murder' of the women, which she blamed on powerful street gangs. Julissa Villanueva, the head of the country’s prison system, suggested the riot started because of recent attempts by authorities to crack down on illicit activity inside prisons and called Tuesday’s violence a result of 'the actions we are taking against organised crime'. ‘Monstrous murder’: 41 women killed in Honduras prison riot