At least 51 people have died in a Colombia prison Tuesday after a fire broke out following an escape attempt, reports say.
The blaze in the Tulua prison, which also left 30 injured, unfolded around midnight, according to Caracol Radio.
"We regret the events that occurred in the prison of Tuluá, Valle del Cauca," Colombia’s President Iván Duque Márquez wrote on Twitter, adding that he has ordered federal prison officials "to carry out investigations to clarify this terrible situation.
"My solidarity with the families of the victims," Márquez also said.General Tito Castellanos, the head of the national prisons agency, described the overnight incident on Tuesday as “a tragic and disastrous event”.
He told the local Caracol Radio station that 30 people were injured.
A spokesperson for the National Penitentiary and Prison Institute confirmed the death toll of what they described as an attempted prison escape, telling AFP news agency that the figure was preliminary and “may change”.
Ivan Duque, the outgoing president of Colombia who is on a visit to Portugal, said the incident would be investigated.
“We regret the events in the prison in Tulua, Valle del Cauca. I am in touch with [General Tito Castellanos] and I have given instructions to carry forward investigations that allow us to clarify this terrible situation,” Duque said in a Twitter post.
Colombian President Ivan Duque, who is on a visit to Portugal, said on Twitter the incident would be investigated.
"We regret the events in the prison in Tulua, Valle del Cauca. I am in touch with (General Tito Castellanos) and I have given instructions to carry forward investigations that allow us to clarify this terrible situation," Duque said.