The fire broke out in the western Colombian city of Tolua amid a chaotic scene inside the peninsula.
According to Colombia’s Justice Minister Wilson Ruiz, a fight broke out between the prisoners at around 2 a.m. local time. Ruiz told a news conference on Tuesday that a prisoner set a mattress on fire during a brawl and the flames spread throughout the prison wing.
“The atonement personnel themselves tried to handle it, but the flames were very high and we had to wait for firefighters to arrive to bring the situation under control,” Ruiz said.
Twenty-four people were injured, including an unspecified number of guards.
Ruiz said the prison is a mid-security penitentiary where prisoners either serve minor sentences or spend the last few months of their incarceration.
Colombia’s prisons are overcrowded. On average, most are 20% above capacity, Ruiz said. He said the peninsula where the fire broke out in Tolua was 17% over capacity, making it one of the least populated prisons in the country.