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The Americas

Firefighters at Peru prison hampered by water problems

Associated Press
Published | Updated
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    Train tracks lay destroyed in a flooded river in the Chosica district of Lima, Peru, Sunday, March 19, 2017. Intense rains and mudslides over the past three days have wrought havoc around the Andean nation and caught residents in Lima, a desert city of 10 million where it almost never rains, by surprise. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia) (The Associated Press)

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    A woman from a religious sect, who lost her home to flooding, gives a religious lecture to soldiers taking a rest from cleaning a clogged river in the Chosica district of Lima, Peru, Sunday, March 19, 2017. Intense rains and mudslides over the past three days have wrought havoc around the Andean nation and caught residents in Lima, a desert city of 10 million where it almost never rains, by surprise. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia) (The Associated Press)

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    Image 3 of 3

    Train tracks lay destroyed in a flooded river in the Chosica district of Lima, Peru, Sunday, March 19, 2017. Intense rains and mudslides over the past three days have wrought havoc around the Andean nation and caught residents in Lima, a desert city of 10 million where it almost never rains, by surprise. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia) (The Associated Press)

LIMA, Peru – Peruvian authorities say a fire broke out in the country's most populated prison and firefighters have been hampered by problems in the water system caused by mudslides and flooding from recent heavy rains.

Officials have no immediate information on damage or any injuries from the blaze Sunday night inside Lurigancho prison, a jail in eastern Lima that had 9,345 inmates listed in December.

Interior Minister Carlos Basombrio says water shortages have made it difficult for fire units sent to the prison.

The capital is experiencing widespread water outages due to the heavy rains, floods and mudslides that have killed at least 75 people and injured 263 in about half of the country in recent days. Officials have said the flooding is Peru's worst in two decades.