Death toll rises to 53 in Colombian prison fire

BOGOTA: The number of inmates who died after a fire broke out on Tuesday during a prison riot in the Colombian town of Tulua rose to 53, local health authorities said Friday.

Health Secretary of the department of Valle del Cauca Maria Cristina Lesmes said that a young inmate died early Friday morning from his injuries in a medical centre in the neighbouring city of Cali, where other prisoners were also in intensive care units.

Minister of Justice Wilson Ruiz said on Tuesday that most of the inmates died from smoke inhalation after a fight between two inmates broke out and one of them lit a mattress on fire.

The resulting blaze in the prison, which houses some 180 inmates, was brought under control by the Tulua fire department and the injured inmates were transferred to local health centres, according to the Director of the National Penitentiary and Prison Institute General Tito Castellanos.