So far 24 people remain confined in health centers after being injured during this fire registered in the Tuluá prison, two of them prison officials, several remain in intensive care units
In the early hours of this Tuesday, June 28, one of the greatest tragedies in Colombian prison history was recorded, an arson attack in the prison of the city of Tuluá in the Department of Valle del Cauca, claimed the lives of at least 51 inmates and So far, more than 24 people have been injured.
The balance was announced from Bogotá by the Minister of Justice, Wilson Ruíz, who attributed the fire to a fight caused by the inmates, who also set fire to the mattresses on which they sleep.
“We have 51 people deprived of liberty who lost their lives and 24 more were injured, this situation was caused by a fight between prisoners of liberty that occurred in patio number eight,” said the head of the portfolio.
While among the injured there are two guards from the National Penitentiary and Prison Institute (Inpec), who have “slight injuries.”
The fire started after 1:00 in the morning in patio eight of that medium-security center that currently houses 1,267 inmates.
In this space one of the inmates would have set fire to a mattress and although the guards tried to control the fire and prevent it from spreading.
Of the 24 injured, according to Minister Ruiz, six are in intensive care at a local hospital in Tuluá and two more were taken to Cali, the capital of the department of Valle del Cauca, to which this city of some 220,000 inhabitants belongs.
Given what happened, the Attorney General’s Office indicated that it appointed a special commission to deal with the crisis due to the fire. “The Delegate for the Defense of Human Rights and the National Directorate of Special Investigations will act jointly with Regional Valle and Provincial Buga.” In addition, they requested prompt action from the municipality’s health services.
While the Prosecutor’s Office pointed out that “a team of 25 people, made up of specialized prosecutors, investigators and technicians in criminalistics from CTI, and forensic experts from Legal Medicine, undertook an investigation into events that occurred in the Tuluá prison, in which several people were killed. and other injuries.
Duke and Petro speak out
The Colombian President, Ivan Dukewho is on a working visit to Portugal, lamented the tragedy and expressed his solidarity with the relatives of the victims.
We regret the events that occurred in the prison of Tuluá, Valle del Cauca. I am in contact with him @DInpecGeneral Tito Castellanos and I have given instructions to carry out investigations to clarify this terrible situation. My solidarity with the families of the victims
– Ivan Duke ?? (@IvanDuque) June 28, 2022
For his part, the president-elect, Gustavo Petrosaid on social networks that “what happened in Tuluá, such as the massacre in La Modelo (in March 2020 in Bogotá), forces a complete rethinking of prison policy in the face of the humanization of the prison and the dignity of the prisoner” .
The Colombian state has viewed prison as a space for revenge and not for rehabilitation.
What happened in Tulua, like the massacre in La Modelo, forces a complete rethinking of prison policy in the face of the humanization of the prison and the dignity of the prisoner.
– Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) June 28, 2022
Petro expressed his condolences to the relatives of the dead prisoners and added that “the Colombian State has looked at the prison as a space for revenge and not for rehabilitation.”
Later, after a meeting with ambassadors of the European Union in Colombia, Petro insisted: “If we had a different policy around crime, the prison system could stop being a space for revenge (…) and a signed system that degrades the human being. and drives it even to these levels of death.”
In prison there was an overcrowding of 17%, while at the national level the figure is 20.3%. It is not the first time that a fire has occurred in this prison. In 2001, there was a short circuit that caused damage to the second floor, while in 2008, an escape attempt was made, which was controlled.
With information from EFE Y The viewer
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