TEGUCIGALPA – At least seven people died of burns and asphyxiation while battling a forest fire outside of Tegucigalpa Sunday, authorities said.
Gen. Romero Vázquez, head of the Honduran Armed Forces, called the deaths of the firefighters “a great tragedy.”
The victims, who as of Monday had not yet been identified, died when the winds shifted the fire and trapped them in the forest, to the southeast of Tegucigalpa.
President Manuel Zelaya lamented the tragedy and said the government would help the victims of the families.
