Survivors of a deadly prison fire that officials have attributed to a short-circuit say the inferno was intentionally set -- an accusation likely to further enrage gangs already fighting a vicious battle against the government.
For some members of the Mara Salvatrucha-13, Monday's fire in a 20m by 10m cell block housing 186 gangsters was part of a long-term strategy of extermination that began with last year's federal anti-gang law.
"Wearing a [gang] tattoo doesn't deserve a death sentence," said MS-13 member Olmon Alberto Contreras, 18, who lay with severe burns in a bed at the San Pedro hospital. "Many of the guys who died in there were in jail just because they had tattoos," he said, referring to the saints, skulls, dagger and dice most stencil across their bodies.
"When you sow hatred, you reap hatred. As you treat us, we will treat you. If you hit me, I must seek revenge."
Survivors said they think non-gang inmates fueled the blaze by pouring gasoline on them, and that guards then waited 45 minutes to open the cellblock's doors. They also claim the guards routinely ignored constant threats between gang-related prisoners.
Government authorities deny such a strategy but say their tough actions against gangs are necessary to control an increasingly violent force blamed for everything from common crimes to grisly homicides.
At least 103 prisoners -- all believed to be members of the Mara Salvatrucha-13 -- died in the blaze at the state prison in San Pedro Sula, 180km north of the capital, Tegucigalpa.
Some were burned to death, while others died from smoke inhalation. More than two dozen others were taken to area hospitals with severe burns.
RSS