Prison Riots Leave 18 Inmates Dead in Ecuador

Ecuador's National Service of Integral Attention to Persons Deprived of Liberty (SNAI) reported that 18 prisoners were killed and several police officers were injured during riots in Guayaquil and Latacunga prisons on Wednesday night.

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The riot in the Guayaquil prison left eight inmates dead and three members of the police injured. In Latacunga prison, the riot left ten inmates dead, 35 prisoners injured, six police officers injured, and damage to the administrative areas of the prison complex.

Authorities reported that the situation in both prisons was brought under control after the entry of special police groups.

The riot in the Latacunga prison included detonations and gunshots inside the facilities where several policemen, who tried to help the prison service personnel, were held by the rioting inmates.

The meme reads, "Video captures the moment in which the prisoners climb to the roof and the checkpoints of the Latacunga prison. Preliminary information indicates that inside there are strong disturbances and wounded."

In this prison, the riot occurred in the medium and maximum security wings, where the police managed to contain seventy prisoners who tried to escape through the main gate.

Social networks posted images of inmates who were violently killed in an agricultural production area inside the Guayaquil Penitentiary. Violence in Ecuador's prisons is not new, as there have been fierce clashes between opposing criminal gangs in recent years.

In April, for example, the confrontation between two gangs spread to four prisons in the cities of Guayaquil, Cuenca, and Latacunga. On that occasion, 80 inmates died, which generated a harsh debate about the weaknesses of the penitentiary agencies in controlling the prisons.