TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) - The number of dead is climbing in Honduras, where a fire swept through a prison during the night. Authorities say at least 300 inmates are dead and more than 350 are missing and presumed dead.

A spokesman for the security ministry says some 475 people escaped from the prison.

The chief of forensic medicine for the prosecutor's office says it will take at least three months to identify victims because some were burned beyond recognition.

A fire department spokesman says it was a "horrific" scene and that inmates rioted while trying to escape.

In an interview with local radio, one inmate said trapped prisoners were screaming in their cells. He said "it seemed like an eternity" before a guard showed up and let them out.

The head of the national prison system says officials are trying to determine if the fire was triggered by rioting prisoners or by an electrical short-circuit.