At least 24 killed in prison riot in Ecuador

At least 24 prisoners died and another 48 were injured in a riot at an Ecuadorean jail, the government said on Tuesday.

This is third deadly uprising this year in the Andean nation’s prison system.

The incident took place at the Penitenciaria del Litoral in Guayas province, a facility that has in recent months witnessed bloody fights between gangs for control of the prison.

“An alert was activated in the Center for the Deprivation of Liberty Guayas N1 due gunshots and explosions in several areas,” state prison agency SNAI said in a statement. As a result of the confrontation, 24 (inmates) were killed and 48 injured.”

The SNAI added, the authorities were able to regain control of the facility in the afternoon, following an earlier evacuation of personnel and the deployment of police officers inside the prison and military officers to guard the exterior.

Riots broke out in February and July in Ecuador’s prison system, which houses some 39,000 inmates.

In February, at least 79 people died in violence and in July at least 22 were killed.

E.M