In Valencia, Venezuela, an attempted prison break went terribly awry, resulting in the death of 68 individuals.
Al Jazeera reports that early Wednesday morning, inmates detained in the Polices Detention Centre set mattresses on fire during a planned prison evacuation scheme. However, as a result of the flames and smoke spreading throughout a contained space, 66 men and 2 female visitors died as a result of burns or asphyxia from inhaling an lethal amount of smoke in a short timeframe.
Shortly after news of the fire began to circulate, concerned relatives took to the local police station to express their outrage over the tragedy. Authorities responded to the masses by unleashing tear gas to break up the sizeable crowd.
Their anger was targeted at a lack of knowledge surrounding who was actually killed during the incident, as police have not yet posted a list of casualties. Furthermore, family members were forbidden from identifying the bodies until they were extinguished, especially since the severe burns would have rendered each corpse unrecognizable for the most part. An officer was confirmed to have been shot as a result of this fiery catastrophe.
In response, the government reportedly plans to provide funeral funds for those who lost a loved one.
