A fire at a prison in southeast of the Chilean capital, Santiago de Chile, has killed at least 83 people. Some reports suggested the fire was deliberately started during a fight between inmates in one of the crowded San Miguel prison's five towers."It is a hugely painful tragedy," Sebastian Pinera, the president, said, as he confirmed the death toll.
"The situation in our prison system cannot hold out any longer," he added, citing chronic overcrowding in the country's jails.
Felipe Bulnes, the justice minister, said the prison housed 1,960 inmates, nearly twice the 1,100 capacity.
Police Colonel Jaime Concha said 14 inmates were also injured in the fire, which broke out before dawn on Wednesday. "We don't yet have the identities" of the deceased inmates, he said.
It was not immediately clear what caused the fire. Television footage showed flames engulfing the jail and black smoke billowing from the building.