CARACAS: Venezuela’s government said Friday it will compensate the relatives of scores of prisoners and a couple of visitors who died this week when a fire engulfed an overcrowded police headquarters’ jail. A total of 68 people died in the fire – 66 male prisoners and two female visitors. A prisoners’ rights group, Una Ventana a la Libertad (A Window on Freedom), said the prisoners had set fire to mattresses in an attempt to break out of the jail. The foreign ministry statement said “means of compensation” had been agreed for the affected families. Una Ventana a la Libertad estimates that the temporary detention cells in Venezuela’s police stations are at five times their capacity.

Source: New Strait Times March 31, 2018 02:48 UTC