CARACAS – A fire started during a prison riot has killed 68 people at a prison in the northern Venezuelan city of Valencia.
Hundreds of relatives and friends fought with police outside the facility after being unable to get any information on casualties from Wednesday’s fire, which townspeople said erupted after a disturbance involving detainees.
They surrounded the building after the incident and were dispersed after officers used tear gas.
A prison riot and fire in Venezuela kills as many as 68 people, most of them inmates. Updates on #2NEWSAM. pic.twitter.com/Mpp9Ges0S1
— Ron Bird (@KUTVRon) March 29, 2018
Attorney General Tarek William Saab said on his official Twitter account that 68 people were dead and nearly all of them were prisoners. He said the dead included two women who were staying overnight at the station, but he didn’t provide any further details.
1) El @MinpublicoVE informa a la opinión pública que ante los terribles hechos acaecidos en la Comandancia d la Policia del Edo Carabobo, donde por un presunto incendio fallecieron 68 personas:HEMOS DESIGNADO 4 FISCALES ( 3 reg y 1 nac) para esclarecer estos dramáticos hechos
— Tarek William Saab (@TarekWiliamSaab) March 29, 2018
An investigation has been launched, he said in a series of tweets.
2) El @MinpublicoVE GARANTIZA que profundizaremos las investigaciones para esclarecer de forma inmediata estos dolorosos acontecimientos que ha enlutado a decenas de familias venezolan@s Así como establecer las responsabilidades a q haya lugar #DDHH
— Tarek William Saab (@TarekWiliamSaab) March 29, 2018
Saab said four prosecutors had been named to determine what happened at the state police headquarters in Valencia, a town in Carabobo state about 100 miles (160 kilometers) west of Caracas.
3) En las indagaciones preliminares, los resultados arrojan el fallecimiento d 66 hombres y dos mujeres q se encontraban en calidad de visitantes (pernocta) A los mismos se les realizaron los respectivos protocolos d autopsia y entrega respectiva de los cuerpos a sus familiares
— Tarek William Saab (@TarekWiliamSaab) March 29, 2018
Venezuela’s prisons suffer from dire overcrowding and a shortage of basic supplies, struggling under the deepening economic crisis that is gripping the once-wealthy oil-producing country.
A fire at a prison in the western state of Zulia killed more than 100 inmates in 1994.
Because of the lack of space in penitentiaries, convicts are often sent to police holding cells like the ones in Carabobo, meant to be used as temporary pens for suspects facing charges or court hearings, where detainees are supposed to spend a maximum of 48 hours.
