Ecuadorian authorities reported that at least 68 inmates lost their lives amid the most recent brutal and violent prison gang battles on Saturday, which the region's President Guillermo Lasso called a "crisis cabinet."
A post on the Ecuadorian prosecutor's office's Twitter account said that officials made the decision after the agency asked the government to take "urgent measures" to address the chaotic situation. Prosecutors revealed that at least 68 prisoners were killed while 25 others were injured during the violent clashes on Saturday at the Litoral Penitentiary, one of the largest prisons in Ecuador located in the coastal city of Guayaquil.
Ecuador's Prison Violence
In the last year, hundreds of prisoners have lost their lives in large-scale riots and fights due to gang violence in various prisons in Ecuador. The Litoral Penitentiary is the prison where 118 were killed in September after clashes between opposing gangs that used automatic weapons and grenades to fight.
Since the Saturday bloodshed, authorities have identified 34 bodies that will be delivered to their families. In a statement, the Ecuadorian government said that the Human Rights Secretariat will deliver the coffins of the deceased to their families in the next few hours as criminology officials work on identifying the other victims, CNN reported.
Authorities reported that the brutal and violent clashes lasted for nearly eight hours among prison gangs linked to international drug cartels. Recorded videos of the incident have gone viral across social media platforms and show bodies, some burned, scattered on the ground within the prison's walls.
Prison officials said that inmates tried to use dynamite to blow up the wall and get into pavilion 2 to carry out a massacre. Prisoners allegedly tried to burn mattresses in an attempt to drown the opposition in smoke, said Gov. Pablo Arosemena of Guayas province.
In a statement, police commander Gen. Tanya Varela said that authorities used drones to observe inmates and saw that prisoners in three pavilions were equipped with guns and explosives. They allegedly tried to enter pavilion 2, whose gang members were without their leader who was released earlier this week, Fox News reported.
Horrific Engagements
After nightfall following the incident, presidential spokesman Carlos Jijon said that authorities were able to regain control of prisoners throughout the penitentiary. Gov. Arosemana added that officials were fighting against drug trafficking within the prisons, but he noted that it was quite difficult.
Authorities later revealed that the weapons and ammunition that prisoners used to fight among each other were smuggled through vehicles that were delivering supplies. They added that inmates used drones to bring the armaments into the jail.
The South American country has been struggling to fight against prison violence and the latest incident comes after the same prison suffered a massive loss two months ago. The September riot was considered to be the deadliest prison event in the history of Ecuador. The horrific event resulted in the death of 119 people, five of whom were beheaded. In February, 79 inmates lost their lives in riots that spread across various prisons in the country, the New York Post reported.
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