The shocking scenes that unfolded in a Honduras prison on Tuesday night will be difficult for relatives to come to terms with long after the cause of the fire is firmly established.

In the worst prison fire for over a century over 350 people are known to have burned and suffocated to death, locked in their cells while firemen struggled to find the guards who held the keys.

The conflicting goals of keeping prisoners securely locked up and that of fire safety have clashed here in spectacular fashion, as indeed they did in 2004 when over 100 died in another Honduran prison.

Then, the message was that the prisons would be reformed, and that a disaster of this kind would never happen again. Clearly, that promise has been grimly reneged on.

In a country that sadly boasts the highest murder rate in the world (86 per 100k compared to 1.23 in the UK), prison overcrowding is inevitable. 856 prisoners were squeezed into a prison designed for just 500 on Tuesday night, and many of them were guilty of no crime.

Associated Press have seen a report, submitted last month to the UN, that states around half of inmates were either awaiting trial or suspected gang members.

Honduras has strict anti-gang laws whereby anyone can be imprisoned simply for having a gang tattoo.

Prisoner heard screaming “We will all die here!”

There are two theories as to the cause of the fire; it was either an electrical fault, or a prisoner who threatened to burn the prison down before setting his mattress on fire. Witnesses reported that the man screamed “We will all die here!”

Whatever the cause, what is known is that the 12 guards on duty overnight in the prison held back firefighters in the belief that that the screaming that could be heard was a riot, and that the prisoners were staging a prison break.

They were held back for 30 minutes before finally being allowed in to tackle the fire. By the time they were allowed in there was no sign of the keys or the guards, and fire crews were unable to save the men locked inside.

Many bodies were found in the prisons washrooms, where it is believed inmates hid in the hope that the water from the showers would save them.

Chaotic scenes outside the prison, where friends and relatives of inmates were gathering for news, caused further confusion and grief.

Shots were fired into the air, and tear gas was deployed to keep back members of the public, who were desperate to try and save their loved ones.

Prison reforms

Without widespread prison reforms, human rights groups and the international community are fearful that the scenes could be repeated again in the future.

Human Rights Watch’s Americas director, Jose Miguel Vivanco, said "Given that Honduras has one of the highest homicide rates in the world, authorities have been locking up convicted and suspected criminals, but failing to address the conditions in which they are being held.”

The president of Honduras, Porfirio Lobo, has promised a “full and transparent” investigation into what happened, and suspended local and national prison officials, in a bid to show that the Government are in control and serious this time about real reforms.

Preventing a disaster in the UK

We contacted the Ministry of Justice to find out what failsafes are in place to ensure that similar disasters would not be possible in the UK.

A Prison Service spokesperson said, "We have robust measures in place to deal with the risks posed by fire in our prisons.

"Each prison also carries out regular fire risk assessments to ensure staff, prisoners and visitors are as safe as possible."