In a riot on Tuesday at a women's prison in Honduras, at least 41 people have died.
It is believed that two competing gangs got into a fight, and one of them then set a cell on fire.
According to authorities, the majority of the fatalities were due to fire, but some of the victims were shot.
In order to stop the violence, Julissa Villanueva, the nation's deputy minister of security, has proclaimed a state of emergency.
She also gave her approval for the "immediate intervention" of the military, police, and firefighters.
The loss of human life won't be accepted, Ms. Villanueva declared.
The jail, which is about 20 kilometers (12 miles) from Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras, and houses about 900 people, may not have killed all of its occupants.
The hospital has received several additional prisoners.
A portion of the prison had been "completely destroyed" in the violence, according to Delma Ordonez, who represents the inmates' family members.
Social media videos show the women's prison emitting a massive column of gray smoke.
Social media posts from President Xiomara Castro, who last year started a war on gangs, stated that she was "shocked by the monstrous murder of women" and would take "drastic measures" in retaliation.
Investigations, according to Ms. Villanueva, would be opened to bring charges against "all those prisoners who are conspiring with organized crime.".
The homicide rate in Honduras has increased as a result of gang infiltration into the government and widespread corruption.
The nation, alongside its neighbors El Salvador and Guatemala, is a crucial transit point for cocaine traveling from South America to the United States.
Additionally, there have been deadly prison riots in the past, many of which have been connected to organized crime.
In 2019, gang violence at a prison in Tela, a port city in the north, claimed at least 18 lives.
