Chile prison fire kills at least 81

[December 08, 2010]  SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) -- A prison fire in Chile killed at least 81 inmates Wednesday and injured an unspecified number of others, officials said.

The fire at the San Miguel prison, southeast of the capital, broke out before dawn, prison police official Jaime Concha Soto said. The blaze was under investigation, but there were no reports of a riot before or after it started.

Relatives of inmates told state television that prison police had closed the gates to the prison, impeding access for firemen.

[Associated Press]

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