Dozens of inmates found hanged in Ecuador prison
At least 31 inmates were found dead in a prison in southern Ecuador, 27 of whom were hanged, authorities said.
Four inmates were killed and more than 30 others were injured in a clash between rival gang members at El Oro prison in the city of Machala early Sunday.
Hours later, security guards alerted to a new outbreak of gang violence found other people hanged on the building’s third floor, Ecuador’s prison service said.
The country’s overcrowded prisons have been the scene of a series of deadly riots and gang fights in recent years, in which hundreds of inmates have been killed.
Ecuador’s prison service, known by its initials Snai, said the clashes were triggered by plans to move some prisoners to a newly built prison.
El Oro prison Another deadly incident in September, when 13 inmates and a guard were killed in clashes between rival gangs.
Relatives of the prisoners have asked authorities to increase security inside the prison, including keeping rival gangs apart, while Machala residents have long demanded that the facility, located in the city center, be moved elsewhere.
Earlier this year, the government of President Daniel Noboa announced the construction of a new maximum security prison in Santa Elena state.
The new prison, called El Encuentro, is expected to open in late November and will have all the latest security measures, according to the interior minister.
Prison gangs have played a major role in the rise of violent crime in Ecuador for years, and two of them, Los Lobos and Los Choneros, were designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations by the U.S. State Department in September.
