So far at least ten inmates have died in a fire that hit a maximum security compound at the Leyte Regional Prison in the town of Abuyog, Leyte on Thursday afternoon.

Police say that ten inmates have been found in different locations throughout the remains of the burnt jail. 

The ten died either as a result of a stampede or were trapped inside the burning compound when they tried to retrieve their belongings at the height of the fire.

In an earlier report on the fire, spokesmen for the jail said that eleven inmates were missing – that number still stands as one inmate is unaccounted for at this time.

Fire investigators were unable to positively identify the dead as they were burned beyond recognition.

Investigators are pointing to faulty electrical wiring as the cause for the massive blaze.

The fire is said to have started at 3.45pm near the bathrooms in building one, and quickly spread to the prison hospital.

The fire was extinguished at about midnight.

The penal colony housed 1,256 inmates, who will now be transferred to a minimum security compound.

The Abuyog Penal Colony is one of seven operating units under the Bureau of Corrections. 

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