At least 58 prisoners were killed and 12 injured in overnight violence in Quito-Ecuador’s Penitenciaria del Ritral prison, the government said Saturday.
The prison in the southern city of Guayaquil is the same prison in which 119 prisoners were killed in late September in the worst prison violence incident in history.
The government has accused the dispute between drug trafficking gangs over the control of prisons by violence.
Guayas Governor Pablo Arosemena said at a news conference that the vacuum of power after the release of gang leaders caused recent turmoil.
“The context of this situation is that there was no gang leader with this cell block because the prisoner was released a few days ago … because he completed 60 percent of his ruling,” said Arosemena. I did. “Other cell blocks with other groups wanted to conquer them, get inside, and do a complete slaughter.”
A video on social media allegedly posted overnight by detainees showed that they were seeking help to stop the violence as ammunition and explosions rang in the background. Reuters was unable to independently determine the source of the video.
There was a wave of turmoil in a South American country prison that housed about 39,000 detainees. February and July incidents in various prisons killed 79 and 22 people, respectively.
According to the Attorney General’s office, some of those killed in prison in September were beheaded or burned, and dozens were injured.
A total of 11 people may have committed suicide in October at Penitencia rear del Littoral, officials said.
In September, President Guillermo Lasso announced a 60-day state of emergency in the prison system, freeing funds and enabling increased control with military assistance.
Guns, grenades, knives, munitions, cell phones and narcotics were found in police activities since the state of emergency, especially in Penitenciaria del Ritral.
Alexandra Valencia
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