At least 42 dead in Tunisia prison fire: doctor

A fire at a prison on Saturday in Monastir in eastern Tunisia killed at least 42 inmates, a hospital doctor said.

"Thirty-one bodies were taken to the morgue and another 11 have followed," Dr Ali Chatli, head of the forensic medicine department at Fatouma Bourguiba hospital at Monastir, 160 kilometres (100 miles) south of Tunis, told AFP.

The fire comes as Tunisia reels from the ousting of President Zine Abidine Ben Ali after weeks of violent protests against his rule.