Ecuador prison riot death toll rises to 31, officials say

At least 27 inmates were found dead of asphyxiation Sunday at an Ecuador prison where a riot broke out that left four others dead and dozens injured earlier in the day, officials said.

The inmates found at the Machala prison in the El Oro province of southwestern Ecuador had “committed asphyxiation among themselves, which caused their immediate death by suspension,” authorities said in a statement, Agence France-Presse reported.

The deadly day at Machala prison marks the latest spasm of prison unrest in the South American country.

Earlier on Sunday, a prison riot broke out that officials said was due to the “reorganization of inmates” at a new maximum security prison that will soon begin operating in a different province. The violent incident occurred less than two months later 14 inmates died in the same center in what authorities described as a dispute between gangs.

Local residents could hear gunshots, explosions and cries for help coming from inside the prison walls, News reported.

Officials said authorities regained control of the facility after the riot, in which a police officer was also injured. In addition to the four inmates killed, 33 inmates and one police officer were injured.

Authorities did not specify the identities of the deceased nor confirm whether the violence was another case of a gang fight.

Ecuador’s prisons have become some of 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 abroad and continue to organize criminal activities behind bars.

Another confrontation between drug gangs last month claimed at least 17 lives in a prison located in the coastal city of Esmeraldas, near the border with Colombia.

More than 500 people in the country have died in prison riots since 2021. Last year, a series of coordinated riots in several prisons led to the hostage-taking of 150 prison guards.