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8 December 2010 Last updated at 11:32 ET

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by Enrique Krause for the BBC's Biodun Iginla

The BBC's Gideon Long says it is believed prisoners set fire to mattresses

A fire in a prison in the Chilean capital Santiago has left at least 83 inmates dead, officials say.

The blaze broke out in the San Miguel prison at 0530 local time (0830 GMT), with television pictures showing smoke billowing from the building.

Hundreds of inmates were evacuated, with up to 14 prisoners said to have life-threatening injuries.

Reports said the fire broke out after a fight between rival gangs, who set mattresses on fire.

President Sebastian Pinera described the fire as a "hugely painful tragedy".

"We cannot guarantee the number of dead will not rise," he said.

Health Minister Jaime Manalich said this was the deadliest incident in the history of the Chilean prison service.

Frantic relatives

The BBC's Gideon Long in Santiago says the fire is now under control but there are chaotic scenes as relatives wait at the prison, with police trying to control the situation.

Many relatives said they still did not know the fate of their loved ones.

"We have been here for hours, and they haven't told us anything," one woman, named as Maria, said.

There has been confusion among relatives about who died

There was confusion earlier when officials read out partial lists of survivors, Reuters news agency said.

Some relatives reportedly screamed, assuming that inmates not mentioned on the list were dead.

The evacuated inmates are being held in a sports ground within the prison.

Our correspondent says local media are reporting that 1,900 inmates were in the jail, although it has a capacity for only about 700.

The situation prompted President Pinera to call for an end to overcrowding.

"We cannot keep living with a prison system which is absolutely inhumane," he said.

"We are going to speed up the process to ensure our country has a humane, dignified prison system that befits a civilised country."

There were reports that prison guards had initially prevented firefighters from entering the prison, which is in the south of the capital, La Tercera newspaper said.

The television pictures showed some prisoners waving their hands through the bars of the jail as relatives screamed at security forces to allow them in to help.

An investigation is under way into the cause of the blaze.

Chile has one of the highest per capita number of prisoners in Latin America.

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8 December 2010 Last updated at 07:24 ET

by Enrique Krause for the BBC's Biodun Iginla

A fire in a prison in the Chilean capital Santiago has left at least 81 inmates dead, officials say. Map

The blaze broke out in the San Miguel prison at 0530 local time (0830 GMT), with television pictures showing smoke billowing from the building.

Local media said hundreds of inmates had been evacuated and that at least 19 were injured, some with serious burns.

Reports said the fire broke out after a fight between rival gangs, who set mattresses on fire.

The BBC's Gideon Long in Santiago says the fire is now under control but there are chaotic scenes as relatives arrive at the prison.

He says local media are reporting that 1,900 inmates were in the prison, although it has a capacity for only about 700.

An investigation is under way into the cause of the blaze.

There were reports that prison guards had initially prevented firefighters from entering the prison, La Tercera newspaper said.

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