15 Pedro Sula prison were very worn and frayed and that there were no fire prevention measures or plans for handling emergencies in that prison. C. The general situation in the San Pedro Sula Prison and detention conditions in Cellblock 19 39. The San Pedro Sula Prison is located in one of the most densely populated areas of the city, with heavy traffic. 24 It has 21 cellblocks (or “houses”) and an estimated inmate capacity of 1500. At the time of the fire, it was housing 2,081 inmates. 25 40. In its decision of April 21, 2004, the Sentence Enforcement Court of the San Pedro Sula Judicial District described the general conditions at that prison in the following terms: At the present time, the prison serving the city of San Pedro Sula has a total inmate population of […] 2081. […] The conclusion one might draw from the investigations done by this court is that the inmates themselves control the prison and that the prison authorities have allowed this to happen by failing to properly check to ensure that weapons and explosive devices are not allowed into the prison. As a consequence, the prison population and visitors are now at risk. […] [T]he problems of the San Pedro Sula prison might be summarized as follows: (1) prison overcrowding; (2) proliferation of crime; (3) control by the ‘paisa’ prison gang; (4) the lack of alternative solutions; (5) indifference on the part of the responsible authorities; (6) concentration of power in a gang; (7) lack of proper staffing proportional to the inmate population; (8) failure to classify and segregate inmates; and (9) the corruption of prison personnel. 26 41. After the May 17, 2004 fire, Officer Ramón Nolberto García was named the new Director of the San Pedro Sula Prison. In statements made to the newspaper Tiempo, he said the following: The most complicated [prison] is the one in San Pedro Sula, because of the prison infrastructure which sits virtually in the center of the city, and the inmate population (almost two thousand). All the conditions are very different. At other prisons, the inmate population is small and the culture is different. The San Pedro Sula prison, on the other hand, looks like a marketplace; there’s too much commerce. There are people coming in and out all day long. All this makes it a difficult place to control 100%. It is the hottest prison. […] It is impossible to control the trade in this prison. It can be controlled if the prison is relocated elsewhere. Right now, however, if a prison authority started to enforce checks and controls, he might trigger more deaths than happened on Monday (the day of the fire in Cellblock 19). […] 24 Original petition received on July 14, 2005, p. 12. 25 Original petition received on July 14, 2005,. p.13. 26 Original petition received on July 14, 2005. Annex 16. Case 1009/04, Folio 1979: Decision of the Sentence Enforcement Judge of the San Pedro Sula Judicial District, April 21, 2004.