Burundi prison fire kills at least 38 in Gitega

 At least 38 people have died and scores more have been injured in a fire which tore through a prison in Burundi.

Vice-President Prosper Bazombanza told reporters that the blaze hit an overcrowded facility in the capital Gitega.

At least 69 people were seriously injured in the fire, he said.

Images circulating online show a building engulfed in flames and piles of bodies, said to be of inmates in the jail.

“It is really catastrophic, I’d say almost 90% of sleeping halls are burnt,” one inmate told the BBC. The blaze started at around 04:00 local time (02:00 GMT), he said.

A journalist outside the prison told the BBC that nurses from Gitega hospital have entered the prison to help the victims, saying they are taking out the dead and wounded.

With capacity for 400 prisoners, Gitega prison held 1,539 inmates as of last month, according to the Christian Association Against Torture (ACAT-Burundi).

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