Story By: Jonathan Macias, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News 

A violent brawl at a youth detention centre in Honduras has resulted in the death of four minors and the escape of 12 young offenders.

The incident took place at the Renaciendo young offenders institution in the municipality of Tamara in the southern Honduran capital Tegucigalpa at around 5 pm when several inmates reportedly started fighting with weapons they had fashioned themselves.

The centre’s director Felipe Morales told local media: “I received a report at around 5 pm that said the inmates had started attacking each other on their way to their cells.”

Morales added: “Our guards made every effort to stop them, but as you know, security staff members do not use weapons inside and they had to request help before controlling the situation.”

According to Morales, guards were assisted by officers of the National Interagency Security Force (Fusina).

Two inmates died in their cells while two others succumbed to their injuries at the Hospital Escuela Universitario (HEU), according to local media.

The victims have been identified as 16-year-old Jonathan Lagos and Harrison Araujo, and 14-year-old Jose Gonzales and Bredy Villareal.

Meanwhile, three unnamed offenders have been injured in the incident.

Reports said that 32 inmates managed to escape during the brawl, although the local authorities quickly managed to round up 20 of them.

Twelve inmates are still at large, according to local media.

The youth detention centre houses around 80 offenders and many of them are reportedly linked with the 18th Street gang, also known as Calle 18, which is a transnational criminal organisation that started as a street gang in Los Angeles in the US.

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