AKIPRESS.COM - At least 18 inmates were killed and 16 injured in an outbreak of gang violence at a prison in Honduras on Dec 20, BBC reports.

The fight at a prison in the northern port city of Tela was one of the worst recent outbreaks in the country.

It follows a wave of prison violence in the country, where prisons are notoriously overcrowded.

The government had declared a state of emergency in the prison system on Wednesday, transferring control to security forces.

A military official told Reuters that they had not formally taken control of the prison in Tela before the violence erupted.