Shooting at Honduran detention center kills 9

Shooting at Honduran detention center kills 9

2011-10-16 15:58:36 GMT+7 (ICT)

TEGUCIGALPA (BNO NEWS) -- A shooting at a detention center in Honduras killed nine people on Friday, officials said on Sunday. A separate incident in the same city left six more people killed.

Both incidents occurred in San Pedro Sula, the second largest city in the Central American nation. Nine inmates were killed and three others were injured in a shootout between two groups at a detention center, police said.

Officials said the fight was the result of a dispute between two groups of inmates at the prison, which was designed to hold 800 inmates but is currently holding more than 2,000. It was not immediately clear how the prisoners managed to obtain weapons.

In a separate incident, six people were killed and three other were wounded after unknown gunmen carried out an attack in the parking lot of Ramon Villeda Morales International Airport in the city. Police are investigating the attack.

According to a report released by the National Commissioner for Human Rights, an unprecedented wave of violence has left more than 9,500 people dead since President Porfirio Lobo took office 17 months ago.

In June 2009, a coup d'état overthrew President Manuel Zelaya seven months before the end of his term, a move which was condemned by the international community and the United Nations. Honduran President Porfirio Lobo set up the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to probe the events in November 2009.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-10-16