TEGUCIGALPA: Twenty of the 46 inmates killed when gang members in a women's prison sprayed their rivals with gunfire and then set them ablaze were so badly burned that the bodies will have to be identified through DNA testing, authorities said on Thursday.

Fighting erupted at a prison about 25 kilometers (15 miles) north of the capital Tegucigalpa on Tuesday when members of the Barrio 18 gang burst into an area housing the rival Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) group, shot at them, and set the place on fire, according to authorities and witnesses.