Honduras on path to break murder world record

HONDURAS: Honduras stands to break world records with its murder rate, estimated at 86 per 100,000 inhabitants, putting it ahead of war-torn countries like Iraq and Afghanistan, a study said Thursday.

The study by the Violence Observatory at the National Autonomous University of Honduras said the murder rate was 43.7 per 100,000 inhabitants during the first semester of 2011, up from 36.6 for the same period last year.

Those figures far outpaced countries known for high violence, such as Brazil, Venezuela and South Africa.

Honduras violence left 3,587 people dead during the first six months of this year, up from 2,929 victims during the same period in 2010.

At this rate, Honduras will reach 86 murders per 100,000 inhabitants by the end of this year, according to the observatory's coordinator Migdonia Ayestas. AFP