At least three prisoners have died and more than 40 others have been injured after a fire broke out at the Florianópolis Penitentiary Complex, the main prison in the state of Santa Catarina, which receives inmates from all over the southern region of Brazil.
According to prison authorities, a total of 43 inmates were injured, three of them in serious condition, and required to be transferred to health centers. The State Health Department has put the entire hospital network on alert.
Initial reports suggest that the flames may have originated from a mattress fire in one of the cells of the maximum security module. This is the second time in just five years that a fire has hit this sector, according to ‘O Globo’.
According to the president of the Penitentiary Affairs Commission of the center, William Shinzato, the inmates died of intoxication due to smoke inhalation. For the moment it is not known how the flames originated, according to the local news portal NSC Total.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
