Honduran families still waiting for return of prisoners’ remains

TEGUCIGALPA – One month after a gruesome fire at the Comayagua Prison in Honduras that left 361 dead, the families of 125 victims are still waiting to receive the remains of relatives, as the slow process of identifying victims’ bodies continues.

 “It’s been a month. We are desperate. We want them to give us the bodies,” José Medina said while waiting to claim the body of his son, Omar Medina. “You have to wait. That’s all they tell us,” he added.

Some 200 people are living at the Institute of Vocational Training in an improvised camp the government set up for the families. Some sleep on cots arranged in rows under a canvas tent, while others camp in a large room at the training center.

DNA samples of the 125 prisoners were sent to Peru and Chile for identification, while bodies are stored at the headquarters of the National Police Academy.