Honduras prison fire an accident: officials

TEGUCIGALPA: An inferno at an overcrowded prison in Honduras that killed 360 inmates last week was accidental and may have been caused by a cigarette, local and US authorities said Tuesday.

"The preliminary cause we have is an accident; the ideas of some kind of criminal intent, as well as a short circuit, have been ruled out," said Security Minister Pompeyo Bonilla.

The February 14 incident at the Comayagua jail was one of the world's deadliest prison blazes, and highlighted the problem of overcrowding in the region's jails.

The toll went up by one to 360 on Tuesday when a man succumbed to his injuries in hospital.

Bonilla said the prevailing theory was that "people were smoking on a flammable mattresses which caught fire and then flames raced through the crowded facility."

Authorities have not yet pinpointed who was smoking or if that person fell asleep while smoking.

In a statement released by the US embassy in Tegucigalpa, a team of US experts from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) also said it believed the fire was accidental. (AFP)