An attempted prison break early on Thursday in Honduras left two inmates dead and three injured, authorities said.

According to officials, a total of 72 prisoners took part in the attempted escape from the men’s prison in the town of Tamara, about 19 miles (31km) from the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa. They did not clarify how the casualties occurred.

Military police were called in to deal with the situation. The force’s commander, Col Ramiro Munoz, said one of the prisoners died at the prison while the other died a while later, at a nearby hospital.

“Everything is now calm and in order,” Mr Munoz told local media. “This isn’t going to set us back, there is no other prison in the world where this doesn’t happen.”

The Latin American country has long been plagued by gang violence and overcrowded prisons.

Mr Munoz said that at around 4am, the prisoners barricaded themselves inside a section of the prison to distract the guards. Military police responded, he said, without elaborating.

A forensic investigation would take place to dispel any speculation, Mr Munoz also said.

At the women’s prison in Tamara last year, a riot broke out that killed 46 women.

The carnage led to calls for change to the country’s prison system and even talk of whether Honduras should emulate the drastic zero-tolerance, no-privileges prisons set up in neighbouring El Salvador by President Nayib Bukele.

In June, Honduras President Xiomara Castro announced the creation of a new 20,000-capacity “megaprison,” as part of the government’s larger crackdown on gang violence and efforts to overhaul the long-troubled prison system.