Tegucigalpa, Honduras (CNN) -- At least 272 inmates were dead and the fate of 105 others was unknown Wednesday as families clamored to learn whether their loved ones perished in a prison fire in central Honduras.

"Everyone ran for their lives," said one survivor, who spoke briefly to local television cameras.

The fire happened overnight in a minimum security prison in Comayagua, Honduras.

The young survivor, Alex Turcio, said he did not know how the fire started but that he and the other prisoners were asleep when they awoke to the screams of fellow inmates.

The prisoners forced themselves out of the prison any way they could, he said.

The blaze was controlled, but the exact number of fatalities remained unknown, said Jose Turcios, spokesman for the Comayagua fire department.

Some 35 prisoners were transported to a local hospital, he said, and some were then taken to a hospital in the capital.

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It was the third fatal prison fire in recent years. In 2003, 61 prisoners were killed in a fire at a prison in La Ceiba. In 2004, the death toll was 107 from a fire in a San Pedro Sula prison.

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Read more here: http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/15/world/americas/honduras-fire-deaths/index.html?hpt=hp_t1