Battle among Ecuador prison gangs kills at least 68 inmates
Quito, Ecuador: A prolonged gunbattle between rival gangs inside Ecuadorâs largest prison killed at least 68 inmates and wounded 25, while authorities said clashes were still uncontrolled hours later at the Litoral Penitentiary, which recently saw the countryâs worst prison bloodbath.
The killing erupted before dawn on Saturday (local time) at the prison in the coastal city of Guayaquil in what officials said was the latest outbreak of fighting among prison gangs linked to international drug cartels. Videos circulating on social media showed bodies, some burned, lying on the ground inside the prison.
A relative of an inmate in the Litoral penitentiary demands information after dozens were killed.Credit:AP
In the initial fighting, which lasted eight hours, inmates âtried to dynamite a wall to get into Pavilion 2 to carry out a massacre. They also burned mattresses to try to drown [their rivals] in smoke,â said the governor of Guayas province, Pablo Arosemena.
âWe are fighting against drug trafficking,â Arosemena said. âIt is very hard.â
Presidential spokesman Carlos Jijón said late in the afternoon that âwe have information that new clashes are reported in the Litoral Penitentiary ... the inmates of Hall 12 attacked those of Hall 7, attempting to take control.â
He said about 700 police officers were trying to control the situation, with a contingent inside the prison. He did not clarify whether authorities had regain control of the compound or say whether there had been any more casualties.
The bloodshed came less than two months after fighting among gangs killed 119 people at the prison, which houses more than 8000 inmates.
Police commander Gen Tanya Varela said early in the day that drones flown over the chaos revealed that inmates in three pavilions were armed with guns and explosives. Authorities have said that weapons and ammunition are smuggled into prisoners through vehicles that deliver supplies and sometimes by drones.
The prison violence comes amid a national state of emergency decreed by President Guillermo Lasso in October that empowers security forces to fight drug trafficking and other crimes.
On Saturday, Lasso tweeted that âthe first right that we should guarantee should be the right to life and liberty, which isnât possible if security forces canât act to protect.â He was referring to the Constitutional Courtâs recent refusal to allow the military into prisons despite the state of emergency. Soldiers are currently outside the Litoral.
AP
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