Ecuador prison riot leaves 31 inmates dead

At least 31 inmates are dead after a day of violent rioting at a prison in southwest Ecuador.

Twenty-seven prisoners in port town Machala, south of Guayaquil, died due to asphyxiation and "immediate death by hanging," according to a statement shared on X by the SNAI prisons agency.

There were no other details about how the prisoners died.

Earlier on Sunday, SNAI reported four deaths at the same prison in a separate incident, which was brought under control by tactical police. That riot was prompted by a reorganisation of the prisoners in a new maximum security facility, the statement said.

Ecuador's prisons have become among the deadliest in Latin America as overcrowding, corruption and weak state control have allowed gangs connected to drug traffickers in Colombia and Mexico to proliferate. Many are heavily armed with weapons smuggled in from the outside and continue to organise criminal activity from behind bars.

President Daniel Noboa's administration, which has pledged to take a tough stance on crime, blames the violence on rival gangs battling for dominance and territorial control.

In September, a riot caused by gang fighting in the same prison left 14 people dead and another 14 wounded. Days later, another 17 people were killed in a prison riot in the northern city of Esmeraldas, near the border with Colombia.

More than 500 people have died in prison riots in Ecuador since 2021. Last year, a series of co-ordinated riots across multiple prisons led to the hostage-taking of 150 prison guards.

with Reuters