Six inmates died and two more were injured between Saturday night and Sunday morning in a violent brawl in a Honduran women's prison home to 835, part of which was set on fire, a prison official said on Sunday.

The brawl started on Saturday night in the National Women's Penitentiary for Social Adaptation, said Jose Gonzalez, the head of a prison commission, but was brought under control in the early hours of Sunday.

It was not immediately clear how the inmates died but Gonzalez said the fire was set by an inmate.

"While the fire was being controlled, some of the inmates broke through the roof of their module and went to another module," Gonzalez said.

The prison is located some 20 kilometers north of the capital Tegucigalpa.

Oscar Triminio, a spokesman for the Honduran Fire Department, added that shots could be heard from inside when the fire fighters arrived at the prison.

Overcrowding and fighting is common in the country's 25 prisons, which house some 21,500 inmates, and have been under military control since December.