Hundreds die screaming, locked in cells in prison fire

Get yourselves free and stay that way, children

Tegucigalpa, Honduras - As authorities searched fruitlessly for the keys, an estimated 350 people died locked in their cells after an inmate set fire to his mattress in an overcrowded prison near this nation's capital city.

Nearly half the overcrowded facility's population perished, overcome with smoke, their bodies charred beyond recognition. Escapees resorted to breaking through ceiling tiles with their bare hands to keep from perishing in the blaze. Many of them fractured their bones doing so, according to published reports.

The Camaguey Prison houses some of the nation's toughest gang members, criminal cartel soldiers who have migrated to the U.S. and other northern nations on a wave of drug money and violence. Extremely violent, the gang members rule entire neighborhoods in Los Angeles and Miami, Houston and Detroit with an iron hand, controlling drugs, prostitution, money laundering and illegal identification through stolen identities.