On 28 June 2022, a fire broke out during a
riot
A riot is a form of civil disorder commonly characterized by a group lashing out in a violent public disturbance against authority, property, or people.
Riots typically involve destruction of property, public or private. The property targete ...
inside a prison in
Tuluá
Tuluá (), is a city located in the heart of Valle del Cauca, Colombia. A major industrial and commercial center, it is the region's fourth-largest city after Cali—the department capital— Buenaventura and Palmira. Founded around 1741 by Ju ...
,
Colombia
Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
killing at least 52 people and injuring at least 34.
Background
In Colombia, and many other
Latin America
Latin America or
* french: Amérique Latine, link=no
* ht, Amerik Latin, link=no
* pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...
n countries, prisons are highly overcrowded with riots a common issue. Colombia's prison system which have the capacity to hold 81,000 inmates currently houses about 97,000 per official figures. In March 2020 a riot in the
La Modelo prison in
Bogota, killed 24 inmates and injured 90 others over fears of
COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...
. The Tuluá prison houses about 1,267 inmates and the cell block where the fire occurred housed 180, but the prison was operating at 117% capacity.
Fire and riot
Around 2:00 am on 28 June 2022, a fight had broken out among the prisoners, and one inmate reportedly set fire to a mattress during the fight. Other sources have claimed that the disturbance was not a fight but a prisoners' protest or a
prison escape
A prison escape (referred as a bust out, breakout, jailbreak, or prison break) is the act of an inmate leaving prison through unofficial or illegal ways. Normally, when this occurs, an effort is made on the part of authorities to recapture the ...
attempt.
Flames from the first fire, quickly spread throughout the prison wing and penitentiary personnel attempted to put the fire out but were unable to and had to wait for firefighters.
While they waited for first responders, prison guards evacuated a majority of the inmates to other prison blocks.
Victims
General Tito Castellanos, the director of INPEC prison agency confirmed that a total of 51 people had died due to the fire, with 49 victims reported deceased at the prison and an additional two declared deceased after being taken to hospital. A majority of the deceased, died due to
smoke inhalation
Smoke inhalation is the breathing in of harmful fumes (produced as by-products of combusting substances) through the respiratory tract. This can cause smoke inhalation injury (subtype of acute inhalation injury) which is damage to the respirator ...
according to Castellanos.
Reactions
Outgoing
Colombian President Ivan Duque
Ivan () is a Slavic languages, Slavic male given name, connected with the variant of the Greek name (English: John (given name), John) from Hebrew language, Hebrew meaning 'God is gracious'. It is associated worldwide with Slavic countries. T ...
was in Portugal at the time of the fire and expressed his solidarity with the victims and their families and his sorrow over the tragedy. President-elect
Gustavo Petro
Gustavo Francisco Petro Urrego (; born 19 April 1960) is a Colombian economist, politician, and former guerrilla fighter who is the current president of Colombia since 2022. After taking office, Petro was considered by analysts as Colombia's ...
called the fire a
massacre
A massacre is the killing of a large number of people or animals, especially those who are not involved in any fighting or have no way of defending themselves. A massacre is generally considered to be morally unacceptable, especially when per ...
and linked it to the previous deaths in La Modelo prison in 2020, while calling for
prison reform
Prison reform is the attempt to improve conditions inside prisons, improve the effectiveness of a penal system, or implement alternatives to incarceration. It also focuses on ensuring the reinstatement of those whose lives are impacted by crimes. ...
and expressing his sympathies to families of the deceased on
social media
Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...
.
See also
*
Bogotá prison riot
References
{{Portal bar, Crime, Colombia
2022 fires in South America
2022 murders in Colombia
21st-century mass murder in South America
Fires in Colombia
June 2022 crimes in South America
June 2022 events in Colombia
Massacres in 2022
Massacres in Colombia
Prison uprisings
Valle del Cauca Department
2022 disasters in Colombia