San Pedro Sula, Honduras, the most violent city in the world - in pictures

The body of a young man shot dead is covered-up a crime scene. 83.4% of all homicides in Honduras caused by firearms, compared to 60% in the United States Photograph: Jorge Cabrera/Reuters

A mother carries her child past police and soldiers after a shoot-out with members of the Mara 18 street gang a during an anti-drug operation. A third of all cocaine smuggled into the US passes through Honduras Photograph: Jorge Cabrera/Reuters

A porter pushes a stretcher after taking a body to the morgue of a local hospital. Gang-related crime in Honduras is the highest in Latin America Photograph: Jorge Cabrera/Reuters

The legs of a man, who received a gunshot to his head, are tied to a stretcher while he is treated in hospital Photograph: Jorge Cabrera/Reuters

Locals stand near a crime scene where the dead body of a man was found after he was shot by members of a street gang Photograph: Jorge Cabrera/Reuters

The body of a woman who was was killed with three gunshots to the head lies next to a road. There are an estimated 850,000 firearms in circulation in the country and the law allows civilians to own up to five guns Photograph: Jorge Cabrera/Reuters

A security guard holds the door of the emergency ward of a local hospital. The city, the second largest in Honduras, has a murder rate of 169 per 100,000 people Photograph: Jorge Cabrera/Reuters

A man (L) mourns next to the body of a slain relative at a crime scene at which unknown assailants killed three men and one woman in a working class neighbourhood Photograph: Jorge Cabrera/Reuters

Scissors lie in a puddle of blood on the floor of the emergency room at a hospital in San Pedro Sula, the city recorded an average of 3.3 murders a day in 2012 Photograph: Jorge Cabrera/Reuters

A man recovers in the hospital after being treated for gunshot and machete wounds Photograph: Jorge Cabrera/Reuters

The body of a 16-year-old boy, who died after being shot in the head, lies on a stretcher in the morgue of a local hospital. The city is one of Latin America's poorest, with approximately 70% of the population reported to be living in poverty Photograph: Jorge Cabrera/Reuters